Medical research: Academia Sinica signs deal

Academia Sinica signed an informal cooperative research agreement with Britain's GlaxoSmithKline yesterday to conduct pharmacogenetic studies on various common regional diseases. Academia Sinica President Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲) said at the signing ceremony with Allen Roses, senior vice president of genetics research at GlaxoSmithKline, that 16 hospitals will also be involved in the project. Academia Sinica will be in charge of collecting disease samples, while Glaxo-SmithKline will provide its advanced research techniques, Lee said.