Medical Research Council Technology

LifeArc, formerly known as the Medical Research Council Technology (MRC Technology, MRCT) is a British life science medical research charity. It was established in 2000 to translate the work of UK Medical Research Council (MRC) research scientists.[1]

LifeArc (formerly known as MRCTechnology)
Charity Commission for England and Wales
IndustryLife science medical research charity
FateRenamed LifeArc in 2017
Founded2000
Headquarters
London
,
UK
Number of locations
London, Stevenage, Edinburgh
Key people
ServicesIP management, drug discovery, diagnostics development, antibody engineering, charity portfolio review
Revenue
  • £25.850 million (2017)
  • £128.967 million (2016)
Number of employees
180
Websitelifearc.org

Today, LifeArc provides intellectual property identification, protection and commercialisation, technology development, diagnostic development, early stage drug discovery and antibody humanization services for the MRC, academia, biotechnology and pharmaceutical organisations and charities, aiming to move promising medical research forward into viable and accessible patient treatments. Profits from LifeArc's activities are reinvested into further research.

History

LifeArc started as the Medical Research Council Liaison Office in 1984, and in 1986 the MRC Collaborative Centre, a laboratory-based technology transfer function, was founded. In 1993, the Liaison Office became MRC's Technology Transfer Group, responsible for office based patenting and licensing.

The organisation was set up as a charity and a company limited by guarantee in 2000 to incorporate patenting, licensing and research functions.[2]

On 15 June 2017 it officially became LifeArc.

Activities

LifeArc has humanised a number of antibodies on behalf of other organisations. Four of these, Tysabri (Biogen Idec/Elan), Actemra (Hoffmann-La Roche/Chugai), Entyvio (Millenium Pharma/Takeda) and Keytruda (Merck/MSD), are now on the market.[3]

In 2010, LifeArc signed a deal with the drug company AstraZeneca to share chemical compounds to help identify potential treatments for serious diseases.[4][5]

LifeArc is a member of a Global Drug Discovery Alliance along with the Centre for Drug Research and Development, the Scripps Research Institute, Cancer Research Technology, the Lead Discovery Centre and the Centre for Drug Design and Discovery, dedicated to translating health research into new medicines and working together to improve the conversion of global early-stage research into much-needed new therapies.[6] Through its earnings from licensing agreements, LifeArc provides funding for academic research and early-stage medical research.[7]

Dementia Consortium was launched in December 2013 - a unique £3m drug discovery collaboration between Alzheimer's Research UK, LifeArc and pharmaceutical companies Eisai and Lilly.

In March 2019, LifeArc joined with Cancer Research UK and Ono Pharma to progress new immunotherapy drug targets for cancer.[8]

In May 2019, LifeArc announced it had sold part of its royalty rights for Keytruda to a subsidiary of Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) for US$1.297 billion, making it one of the biggest UK medical charities by size of investment.[9]

Key achievements
  • Over 400 commercial licences signed
  • Helped launch 12 drugs on the market
  • Helped form 18 start ups
  • Generated over £600 million in revenues for the MRC
  • Humanized four antibodies now on the market

References
  1. Paul Feldman, Corinna Lotz, A world to win: a rough guide to a future without global capitalism, 2004, Lupus Books, ISBN 0952345412, 9780952345411
  2. Sir David Cooksey (2006-01-12). "A Review of UK Health Funding" (PDF). The Stationery Office. p. 20.
  3. "Therapeutic Antibodies and the LMB". MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology. Retrieved 2012-02-17.
  4. Mark Wigglesworth, Terry Wood, eds, Management of Chemical and Biological Samples for Screening Applications, 2012, John Wiley & Sons, ISBN 3527645276, 9783527645275, google books
  5. "AstraZeneca and MRC Technology Form Strategic Alliance in Discovery Research, Utilising Shared Compound Libraries". AstraZeneca. Retrieved 2013-01-03.
  6. Edelson, Steve (2013). "Translational Globetrotting". SciBX: Science-Business eXchange. 6 (4): 78. doi:10.1038/scibx.2013.78.
  7. "Stevenage BioScience Catalyst | LifeArc set to transform medical research landscape |". www.stevenagecatalyst.com. Retrieved 2019-03-30.
  8. "Cancer Research UK, LifeArc and Ono Pharma form cancer therapy alliance". Hospital Healthcare Europe. 2019-03-28. Retrieved 2019-03-30.
  9. "LifeArc monetises Keytruda® royalty interests to fund further research and investment". LifeArc. 2019-05-20. Retrieved 2019-07-12.
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