SGC launches third phase with $49.9 million in funding

The Toronto-based Structural Genomics Consortium (SGC) has received $48.9 million to launch its third four-year phase. The funding is 30% less than in previous phases due primarily to the closure of the SGC laboratory at Karolinska Institutet in suburban Stockholm last June. The funding — 45% of which comes from commercial entities — will support SGC's two remaining labs at the Univ of Toronto and the Univ of Oxford. Since its formation in 2004, SGC has placed more than 1,300 three-dimensional protein structures in the public domain. Organizations providing follow-on funding are the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis Research Foundation, Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation and the Wellcome Trust. New contributing members are Eli Lilly Canada and Pfizer Inc. Genome Canada was an early supporter of SGC, pioneering a new model for pre-competitive drug discovery based on open access. A breakdown of funding from the specific organizations was not divulged ….