The Maurice Wilkins Centre for Molecular Biodiscovery is building a portal into China for New Zealand biomedical science. “As a vibrant network of New Zealand biomedical researchers, we’re well placed to strengthen scientific links between the two countries,” explains Director Professor Rod Dunbar. “Individual researchers can find it difficult to break into science systems overseas, but Centres of Research Excellence like ours can play a lead role in building institutional relationships, and provide a conduit for establishing and sustaining broad collaborative programmes.”
The Maurice Wilkins Centre draws together 120 investigators from around New Zealand, and effectively represents the country’s expertise in drug discovery, and many of the scientific disciplines that support it. This April eleven Maurice Wilkins Centre’s scientists travelled to Shanghai for a bilateral research forum, around which industry and academic visits and an embassy reception were also organised. The trip set the stage for a reciprocal visit by Chinese scientists later in the year and the initiation of new research projects.
“Overseas institutions have expressed enthusiasm for engaging with the Maurice Wilkins Centre as a ‘shop window’ for New Zealand biomedical science in fields such as drug discovery and immunology,” says Professor Dunbar. “This visit confirmed that New Zealand’s basic biomedical research and clinical translation capabilities are highly respected in China, and that our Chinese counterparts see tremendous opportunities for collaborative programmes in drug discovery and development.”
The high level of interest makes sense in light of China’s current five year plan, which identifies drug discovery as a priority area for scientific and industrial development. Nevertheless the New Zealand scientists were astounded by just how much the country is investing in science. “China can invest in focused areas of science on a scale that’s not currently feasible in New Zealand. It’s a strategy that’s stimulating very rapid scientific development, and being invited to access their infrastructure is a huge opportunity for us,” says Professor Dunbar.
The Maurice Wilkins Centre aims to develop mutually beneficial long-term relationships with China that will allow the expansion of both partners’ research programmes. The Centre’s goals align with our government’s NZ Inc China Strategy, which aims to grow high quality science and technology collaborations, and to generate concomitant commercial opportunities. Many Maurice Wilkins Centre investigators have deep experience with the commercialisation of biomedical science, given the crucial role of industry in drug development, so they have the capability to contribute to the commercial goals of the NZ Inc China Strategy as well as its scientific goals.
The scientists’ trip was the first step in learning how the Maurice Wilkins Centre can work with China. Professor Peter Shepherd, who led the delegation, explains that visiting in person was important. “There’s huge potential for New Zealand science in China but we need to develop understanding on both sides of where the opportunities lie, and build collaborations from the ground up. China has a new and emerging system and you really have to see what’s happening there to believe it. Sending a number of our scientists meant they could experience this for themselves and make the personal contacts that will be essential for long-term success. There was real excitement in the New Zealand team about the possibilities, and they now have the contacts and leads on which to develop.”
The trip was initiated through discussion with Professor Ming-Wei Wang, Director of the National Center for Drug Screening at the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica (SIMM), an institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), and the Chinese National Compound Library. Professor Wang has worked with several scientists who are now members of the Maurice Wilkins Centre and began interaction with New Zealand through those links as well as dealings with Auckland UniServices.
Professor Wang organised a special forum to focus on developing scientific links between New Zealand and Chinese scientists in the drug discovery area. This 1st Sino-New Zealand Drug Discovery Forum was held as a special session of China’s 4th National Forum on New Technologies in Drug Discovery. At the forum Maurice Wilkins Centre investigators were partnered with leading Chinese scientists with matching expertise. Both sides presented their work but the focus was on making connections and discussing potential collaborations. “The goal was to share our knowledge and facilities and learn how we can complement one another,” Professor Dunbar explains.
The delegates also toured the National Drug Screening Center at SIMM and its library of one million chemical compounds. “The library, together with other parts of the SIMM, can support every aspect of drug discovery. The facilities were extremely impressive and on a scale that isn’t currently feasible in New Zealand,” says Professor Shepherd. They also visited three Shanghai contract research organisations: SYNthesis Medchem, HD Pharma, and WuXi AppTech, the latter a supplier to the world’s top ten pharmaceutical companies. “The visits really highlighted the potential for New Zealand drug discovery programmes to move at a much faster rate by collaborating with suitable partners in China,” says Professor Shepherd.
Some delegates made additional visits to other centres in China. Professor Shepherd met with Professor Xu Tao, Director of the CAS Institute of Biophysics, and was hosted by Professor Ye-Guan Chen at Tsinghua University, both in Beijing. Professor Shepherd and Drs Adam Patterson and Jeff Smaill were hosted by Professor Donghai Wu at the CAS Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health. Professor Margaret Brimble visited collaborator Professor Nancy Ip at the University of Science and Technology in Hong Kong, and gave an invited lecture at the CAS Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry where she also met with principal investigators.
Several research collaborations have been established as a result of the forum and associated visits. For instance Professor Shepherd will work with Professor Wang to advance HRC-funded research on the diabetes-like side effects of common antipsychotic medications. Professor Brimble will work with two researchers at the National Drug Screening Center to investigate medicinal compounds, and Drs Patterson and Smaill have initiated a promising collaboration with Professor Wu.
Professor Shepherd says the next step will be to develop processes to support these relationships long-term. “It’s a new way of interacting – we’ll have to find systems that work and they won’t be exactly the same as for other countries. We hope that what we’re doing might provide a template for other fields of New Zealand science to interact successfully with China.”
Information: Maurice Wilkins Centre
Telephone: (09) 373 7599 x 85533