Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) and Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (Takeda) announced a major research collaboration that aims to define new insights and develop novel therapies in gastroenterology.

Gastrointestinal (GI) diseases and disorders in humans are poorly understood and inadequately treated. QMUL’s Neurogastroenterology Group aims to understand the neuromuscular control of GI function, with an emphasis on brain-gut interactions and GI motility. The focus of the research alliance announced recently will be GI sensory and motor mechanisms underlying functional bowel disorders and GI motility disorders.

The collaboration will leverage the best science from both partners, including QMUL’s School of Medicine and Dentistry which has world-leading translational research facilities and expertise in gastroenterology, which will speed innovative drug discovery and development of new therapeutic approaches.

Takeda’s GI Drug Discovery Unit will work closely with experts from the School of Medicine and Dentistry’s Neurogastroenterology and Immunology groups on several areas of research, including
identifying novel therapeutic targets and researching the effect of compounds with novel mechanisms of action in established QMUL translational assays. QMUL researchers Professors Gareth Sanger and Ashley Blackshaw, Dr David Bulmer and Dr Andrew Stagg will collaborate in this three-year research programme.

“Takeda’s GI Drug Discovery Unit is a highly specialised research team that works collaboratively with academic and industry partners, as well as other Takeda teams, in a research approach that seeks and partners with the deepest scientific expertise in the gastroenterology field, wherever it may be,” says Gareth

A. Hicks, Head of Takeda’s GI Drug Discovery Unit. “This agile approach maximises our chances of succeeding in our mission to provide new medicines for the treatment of GI disorders in patients with high unmet medical need. We are excited to work with researchers at QMUL, who have a proven track record for collaborative delivery of deep scientific insight into GI disease mechanisms.”