By Clive Cookson, Science Editor
GlaxoSmithKline, Britain?s largest pharmaceutical company, is to open up its whole drug development pipeline to the body responsible for monitoring the illegal use of performance- enhancing drugs in sport.
The agreement with the World Anti-Doping Agency – to be announced on Monday – is intended to give Wada time to prepare tests to detect cheating athletes, before the drugs become available on prescription.
This week, the annual meeting of the Biotechnology Industry Organisation in Washington urged biotech and drug companies to join the battle against doping in sport. GSK is one of the first Bio members to sign a long-term agreement to collaborate with Wada.
John Fahey, Wada president, said the partnership with GSK ?will play a significant role in helping Wada achieve its mission of a doping-free sporting culture. Our work with the pharmaceutical industry is critical to staying one step ahead of the dopers, who have an ever-increasing level of scientific expertise.?
The deal also builds on GSK?s official role in the 2012 Olympics, testing samples taken from athletes in conjunction with King?s College, London. The company will provide a research centre laboratory where 5,000 samples can be tested during the games.
GSK?s commitment to give Wada confidential information on medicines in early development is unusual in an industry that traditionally keeps its pipeline of future products as secret as regulations permit.
Pauline Williams, who is managing GSK?s anti- doping initiative, told the Bio meeting: ?What a great opportunity this is for pharma to do something pro-active on a voluntary basis – recognising a risk and doing something about it, rather than waiting for regulations.?
Respiratory medicine is one area of expertise within GSK likely to be of interest to Wada. Sports cheats are interested in inhaled drugs and greater lung function.
A specific GSK compound in development – a potential treatment for anaemia associated with chronic kidney disease and arterial disease – may be a tempting target for dopers. This ?prolyl hydroxylase inhibitor? mimics body responses to low levels of oxygen and stimulates red blood cell production. The drug?s effects are similar to those of erythropoietin or EPO, which has presented great problems for Wada.
The industry?s decision to move against doping does not just reflect corporate altruism. Drugs? reputation can be undermined by negative coverage if their abuse is frequently in the news, said Olivier Rabin, science director of Wada. ?Some patients are concerned about taking EPOs because of the bad publicity.?
Mr Rabin said that, while ?eradication of doping in sport remains a distant dream?, he was becoming more optimistic. ?Many athletes are telling us their sport is cleaner than ever,? he told the FT. ?Now that the industry is joining us, we have a better chance.? Steve Elliott, science director of Amgen, the US biotech company, argued industry attitudes still need to change. ?Sports doping is such an alien concept in the industry,? he said. ?The attitude is it is not on our radar and we don?t have to think about it.?
For all the moral pressure to keep clean and avoid doping, the biggest disincentive against cheating is fear of getting caught – and that means developing a way for authorities to detect a drug in samples before it becomes available illegally to athletes. ?An effective test does more than anything else to stop abuse,? said Dr Elliott.
? The Financial Times Limited 2011