Biology Sciences

Biological Sciences at the Merck Frosst Centre for Therapeutic Research takes full advantage of opportunities to collaborate with academic institutions on basic research. Several staff hold cross appointments and Biological Sciences currently has ties that include McGill, Concordia and the Universities of Ottawa, Montréal, Waterloo, and British Columbia.

Links with external organisations such as the Biotechnology Research Institute (BRI) in Montréal also help to accelerate drug discovery. The BRI produces large quantities of engineered enzymes and receptors for the in vitro screening needs of Merck Frosst.

Click here to enlarge

Merck Frosst is the industrial sponsor and scientific partner of the Vancouver-based Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics (CMMT). This independent research facility, also funded by federal and provincial governments and local hospitals, melds the skills of researchers from the University of British Columbia with those of Merck Frosst scientists in several areas of research. The collaboration has led to several important co-discoveries and joint publications in areas such as Huntingdon's disease.

Collaboration with private biotechnology companies has also proven to be very successful. An agreement with Axys Pharmaceuticals Inc. of San Francisco significantly accelerated the cathepsin K program. Axys contributed several prototype inhibitors, while Merck Frosst Canada Ltd. supplied the expertise on how to refine chemical molecules into drugs, and what makes a drug efficacious in pre-clinical and clinical models.

Biological Sciences offers several placements for post-doctoral fellows, graduate students, and co-op students. Opportunities to participate in leading-edge science are available in the caspase and the phosphatase research programs. Eight-month co-op placements often lead to publication.