Pharmacy

Universities Involved	Trinity College Dublin Queen's University Belfast
Department(s)	Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry
Project Title / Description	Development of novel aspirin prodrugs as anti­platelet agents. The collaboration between QUB and TCD Schools of pharmacy began in 1996 and was originally funded by Unimed plc. The project is currently stalled for lack of funding, following the demise of the major sponsor. New efforts are currently in train to involve new industry based collaborators and to identify new funding. The main objectives of the project are to develop viable and effective novel anti­platelet agents suitable for administration topically or orally. Significant progress has been made to date and two promising agents are currently under evaluation. This evaluation comprises invitro and invivo work in humans and animals. New funding is now required to complete the project. The project is characterised by a synergy of different expertise­pharmaceutical chemistry (synthesis, kinetics, analysis) in TCD and formulation (drug delivery) in QUB.
Contacts	Dr JF Gilmer Tel + 3531 608 2795/608 2793 gilmerjf@tcd.ie	Dr JM Clancy Tel + 353 1 608 2790/608 2793 jclancy@tcd.ie	Dr D McAfferty Tel 04890 272 012/272 012 d.mccafferty@qub.ac.uk
Business Involvement	Unimed plc (to November 1998). Currently none.
Development Potential	Further development of the project will take place only if the work is put on a formal footing and properly launched. If a specific programme for TCD/QUB collaboration is launched, then it should be possible to expand and enhance the degree of collaboration.