Former Glaxosmithkline Executive To Lead UNC Drug Discovery Center

Chapel Hill, NC - Stephen Frye, PhD, former worldwide head of discovery medicinal chemistry at GlaxoSmithKline, will lead the new Center for Integrative Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

"The days when large pharmaceutical companies could be solely relied on to effectively translate basic research into new medicines are passing," Frye said. "Academic science will have to rise to the challenge."

Frye is co-inventor of GSK's Avodart, a drug used to shrink an enlarged prostate gland that is also under study for prevention of prostate cancer. Prior to his most recent role at GSK, his department in RTP also discovered a drug candidate that became Tykerb, a breast-cancer drug approved by the FDA in March.

The center is a joint initiative supported by the UNC School of Pharmacy, the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, the UNC School of Medicine, and the Department of Chemistry in the College of Arts and Sciences. Frye is a research professor in the School of Pharmacy.

The School of Pharmacy had been talking about forming a drug-discovery center for more than three years, said Dean Bob Blouin.

"We envisioned an organization very rooted in our academic culture but also working to extend our discoveries out into the world," he said. "But talking about doing it is totally different from bringing in a person who has done it. Stephen Frye is that person. He is going to create something unique and novel here at UNC."

Frye said he plans to start with two teams of five scientists each that will examine biological drug targets identified by UNC researchers. The teams will work to develop molecules that interact with those targets, the first step in developing a drug. The center will definitely focus some of its efforts on cancer research because there is such a huge need and significant expertise at UNC in oncology, he said.

SOURCE: Stephen Frye