Pfizer backs UK pharma materials institute

A new institute for studying pharmaceutical drug substances and productsis to be established in the UK through a research collaboration between the University of Cambridge, the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Center and Pfizer. The unit, to be based within the University, has been named the Pfizer Institute for Pharmaceutical Materials Science.

Under the terms of a five-year agreement, Pfizer will initially support 21 staff and students who will work on jointly-agreed projects in the Institute, the aim of which is to provide a focus for research into all aspects of the structure, manufacture and behavior of solid dosage forms, such as tablets, at all relevant scales of operation and use. The Institute's new director, William Bonfield, says that "Pfizer has provided an exciting opportunity for us to perform some world-class research in establishing a distinctive approach to the formulation and delivery of pharmaceutical materials."