As part of the collaboration, scientists from both the organisations will work closely in integrated teams at the Crick’s centre of biomedical research in London and GSK’s global R&D hub in Stevenage.
The close proximity of these two sites will increase interactions between Crick and GSK scientists, which will help in introducing new ways of working and stimulating the development of new approaches to problems.
The deal will see interchange of skills and ideas from both the entities that could lead to significant discoveries in the basic scientific understanding of human disease, which could improve the success rate for discovering new medicines.
The open science collaboration will combine the specialized disease biology knowledge of the Crick’s scientists with the pharmaceutical R&D expertise of GSK scientists.
The move will help in opening up possibilities for scientific discovery that would not be possible for each partner working alone.
Researchers from both the organizations will conduct biological research projects focused on learning more about how diseases take hold in the body and how they could best be treated, which in turn is expected to result in increased efficiency and reduced attrition in R&D.
GSK Pharmaceuticals R&D president Patrick Vallance said: "The Francis Crick Institute combines some of the world’s best scientific minds and promises to firmly cement the UK as a global leader in life sciences research.
"We’re thrilled to be the first industry partner of this dynamic organisation and believe that by working alongside one another, combining our unique strengths, we’ll be well-placed to make game-changing advances in our understanding of human disease, which will ultimately improve our ability to make new medicines."
The deal will see GSK provide important research tools, including access to its non-development compound library, key antibodies, reagents and technologies, which will be used to address key questions in disease biology.
Both the entities will contribute in-kind resources, including lab space and the scientific expertise of 20 staff to the collaboration.