Glaxo deal for BioQuarter

EDINBURGH Quarter has landed its first major deal, enticing pharmaceuticals giant Glaxosmithkline to develop medicines for acute pancreatitis in Scotland.

Drug developers from Glaxo – which already has manufacturing plants at Irvine and Montrose – will team up with biologists from Edinburgh University to look at treatments for pancreas inflammations, which kill more than 1,000 Britons a year.

The university will receive an up-front payment from Glaxo’s £4 billion research and development budget along with later milestone payouts and a share of any profits generated.

Experts hailed the deal as being significant.