World-class imaging centre launched

Rt Hon David Willetts MP, Minister for Universities and Science at Imanova

Imanova, a new state-of-the-art imaging centre, was formally launched this week at a showcase event attended by Rt Hon David Willetts MP, Minister for Universities and Science, and representatives from the founding organisations.

Imanova is a pioneering public-private collaboration formed by King’s College London, University College London, Imperial College London and the Medical Research Council. From a site previously owned by pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline, Imanova now plans to become an internationally renowned imaging centre and partner of choice for industry looking to use its world-class imaging facilities.

At the launch David Willetts MPhighlighted the Government’s support for the collaborative approach that Imanova is pioneering. He said: ‘The Government’s life sciences strategy underlined the importance of collaboration between the research base and industry as a means of driving growth and innovation. Imanova is an excellent example of this. It brings together leading academics and businesses to accelerate drug discovery and development, and is also attracting overseas investment.’

With both PET and MRI scanning in the same centre, Imanova is unique in the UK. This allows researchers to image not only the activity of a medicine in the body, but also its effect on the body systems being studied. As a result researchers can see at an early stage if an investigational medicine is being effective, and discontinue development if it is not. These facilities will help to catalyse translational research, and offer the potential to significantly shorten drug development times.