Eli Lilly and Co. has opened its new Biotechnology Center in San Diego, as part of its strategy to develop more biopharmaceuticals. The center will focus on discovering, engineering and conducting Phase I and II trials on potential biologic medicines, with an emphasis on cancer, diabetes and autoimmune diseases.

“We are moving full speed ahead toward building a biotechnology powerhouse,” said John Lechleiter, Ph.D., Lilly chairman and chief executive officer. “The science, technology and talent at our new center in San Diego will help bring novel biotech medicines to patients faster and more efficiently, and reinforces Lilly’s commitment and contributions to San Diego’s burgeoning bioscience industry.”

The facility is located within a life science hub near the University of California, San Diego and other biomedical research institutes. Lilly, as part of its FIPNet strategy, plans to leverage external resources in an effort to advance its pipeline.

Approximately 200 scientists are based at the center, more than half from Applied Molecular Evolution (AME), a wholly-owned Lilly subsidiary that discovers, engineers and develops biotechnology-based therapies from human proteins. The center is also the work base for scientists from discovery chemistry research and technology (DCRT), a division within Lilly that includes scientists from SGX Pharmaceuticals, which Lilly acquired in 2008.

“We are optimizing the synergies between AME and DCRT-San Diego by co-locating them,” said Tom Bumol, Ph.D., vice president of biotechnology discovery research at Lilly and head of the new West Coast site. “We in the scientific community have only scratched the surface of what is possible for biologic drug design, and collaborations such as this taking place at our new center will help lead to the next generation of biotechnology-based treatments for patients.”