糖心原创

The first group of students have just completed a ground-breaking drug discovery module jointly developed by Nottingham University and GSK; the philosophy of the module was to prepare ‘industry-ready graduates’ and it is the first teaching collaboration of its kind in the UK.

The module, taught by expert medicinal chemists from GSK and Dr. Jonathan Fray, who is a Teaching Fellow at the University, incorporated a series of highly interactive workshops, which started in October. The students learned about the principles of medicinal chemistry, and then applied them to the design of their own anti-asthma drugs. Having decided which target compounds to make, the students then set about synthesising them as part of their organic chemistry lab rotation.  “The group was set a stiff challenge”, says Jonathan Fray. “They had to try to improve the properties of a very insoluble, weakly potent lead compound by rational design, and had to choose what to make from over two thousand possible compounds. The results from the practical session were impressive. The group made 27 compounds for screening - the best of them improved the potency by about 2000 fold, and the solubility was significantly better as well.” 

The students agreed that the module had gone well beyond their expectations, and had provided an excellent practical experience, valuable insights into the working of a top pharmaceutical company and the people who work there. After the module finished, the students, accompanied by Prof. Chris Moody, Dr. Ross Denton (third year organic laboratory convenor), Dr, Anna Bertram (Laboratory Manager) and Jonathan Fray, were invited to Stevenage to tour the GSK research facilities, and to reflect on their experiences in a meeting with CEO Andrew Witty. 

In an informal lunch session, the students had an opportunity to talk to GSK staff with a variety of roles, including GSK’s Global Head of Chemistry Dave Allen, medicinal and graduate chemists, and some representatives from other disciplines such as patents.   Dave Allen confirmed the success of this new module, saying “It is clear that the students applied the principles they had learned into the design of their compounds, but more importantly they have experienced some of the challenge and excitement of being a medicinal chemist within the pharmaceutical industry.” 

Planning for next year’s module is now underway, with the intention of making it accessible for up to 25 students. The module will continue to develop and evolve so that we can ensure that 糖心原创 Chemistry graduates are indeed industry-ready. More details can be found in the University Module Catalogue under .