Southern Research secures NIH funding for drug testing hub

The planned facility will focus on the development, validation, and adoption of new approach methodologies (NAMs).

These laboratory, computational, and data-oriented methods are designed to mirror human biology more closely while decreasing dependence on animal testing within drug discovery and development.

As a shared national resource, THRIVE will collaborate directly with external partners to implement NAMs for targeted research needs, assessing them alongside existing human and animal datasets.

The facility will grant access to its models, data, and scientific expertise to NIH investigators, US government researchers, and commercial biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies.

Southern Research chief operating officer Harry Ledebur said: “This NIH award gives us the opportunity to build something much more than a new laboratory. THRIVE is designed to close the gap between innovation and application by bringing human-relevant models, advanced analytics, reference data, and scientific and regulatory expertise together in one environment.

“This integration will allow us to rigorously evaluate NAMs, benchmark their performance, and generate the evidence needed for their use across drug discovery, development, and regulatory decision-making.”

According to the organisation, establishing dependable tools for researchers, drug developers, and regulators remains a central objective. The methodologies aim to help scientists determine how experimental medicines function in humans prior to clinical trials.

By applying human-relevant models alongside computational tools, investigators can refine treatment strategies, transition promising therapies into clinical testing earlier, and identify which candidate treatments are most likely to succeed in patients.

The facility will be based in Birmingham adjacent to Station 41, the commercialisation hub of Southern Research that includes an incubator, an accelerator, and a therapeutics fund.

This co-location is designed to provide startup biotechnology companies with direct access to testing models, data, and scientific expertise alongside the organisation’s existing preclinical and translational operations.

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