THFCMBOSIS RESEARCH UNIT
Background
'The Thrcnbosig Research Unit (Head of Department
Professor V-V- Kakkar MB FRCS.
FRCSE, vikram University and Irwin Hospital, New
Delhi, subsequently Oxford,
London, Harvard, recreations Golf, Skiing,
Cricket, member of Athenae=, age
49) is situated at King's College School of
Medicine and Dentistry, DenTark
Rill, London SES. The unit has a grant frcFn the
M.R.C. (grant 7307561) to
study "Mechaniw, Prevention and Treatment of
Thrcubotic Disease". The value
of this contract was stated (Sept. 1985 meeting,
discussed below) to be around
L1,000,000 per annunt until 1989. 32 staff are
employed in the unit.
In Septenber 1985 Mr. Bruell, Mr. Heard and Dr.
Thornton attended a meeting'at
Sir Emmanual Kaye's Lorxim house, arranged by the
Thrombosis Research Trust
(see note 1) an organisation which promotes the
unit. A presentation was node,
mainly by Prof. Kakkar, the salients point of
which were:
1. Prof. Kakkar had been invited to take a leading
position at the Bob Hope
Cardiovascular Unit, U.S.A. at a salary of
$200,000.
2. But he preferred to stay in the stay in the
U.K. if a suitable new purpose
built unit could be set up.
3. Costs for the proposed unit were estimated as:
Building L1,500,000 - ~U,750,000
Ecluipn-t ;E119001000
Annual Running Costs L1,200,000
Staff 65 (doubling of existing unit)
4. Funding position (as of 24.9.85)
Building Nil
Equipment L400,000
Annual Running Costs 1200,000
Note
(a) Presumably the existing M.R.C. Contract
continues until 1989
regardless of whether the new unit is built and
this way account for
the MW,000 and 1200,000 above. Apparantly the MW
do not fund
buildings.
(b) There is a suggestion, no more, that U.K.
Government would notch
running costs Z for industry L up to L5W,000.
Apparently a similar
presertat-ion was made to the Prime Minister.
\0
co
BATCo document for Province of British Columbia I
November 1999


5. The scientific aspects appeared sound but the
presentation was geared to
the as.T-mpti- that snoking caused cardiovascular
disease. This was
challenged and the presentation changed direction.
B.A.T.'s response then was that we might just be
interested, but only as
part of a wide-ranging industrial consortiun
supporting the unit.
It is not known how successful Sir Ehumnual Kaye
and colleagues have been
in d:ytaining funding. in the period Septmber 1985
- July 1986. Howe-ver it
is worth noting that the trustees represent three
specific U.K. Industrial
concerns.
6. Existing Industry/B.A.T. Funded studies into
circulatory disorders are
listed in note 2.
Relationship between Smoking and Thrombosis
The 1979 U.S. Surgeon General's Report attempted a
ca.txehensive review of all
papers associating smoking with various diseases.
They concluded, "From the
limited data available, smoking does not appear to
enbance venous thrombotic
disease".
There are of course many papers associating snx*dM
with various forms of
circulatory disorders but there are nany anomalies
in such data, e.g. we have
observed that birth cohort trends in heart disease
in the U.K. are identical
for men and womm, pointing perhaps to diet, as
important cause.
Ouestions; and Answers
(Based on previous dialogue with the Thrombosis
Research Trust.)
0.1. Since I last approached B.A.T. in 1985 six*
of Britains' largest
canpanies have agreed to finance the Mu-cmbosis
Research Unit. Are
)?ou now able to join these six?
A. 1. We are prepared to consider an application
for funding a specific
research project at the new unit.
0.2. Would you be prepared to fund a research
project at the existing unit?
A. 2. We are always prepared to consider
applications for the funding of
.W-,pLiate research projects.
Being an international company, our research is
planned and carried
out on an int basis. For this purpose we have our
Scientific Research Group which is run by Dr.
Thornton of BAPOo., to
wbcm any applications for projects can always be
addressed.
0.3. When I last apptmched B.A.T. in 1985 you said
that you might be
interested in funding us if other companies also
did so.
Unfortunately they have all taken a similar view.
Sommne has got to
start the ball rolling, why not B.A.T.?
A. 3. Funding new buildings is not within the
domain of B.A.T.'s research
funding, although, as I said earlier, we do fund
specific projects.
Ekqpthetical
BATCo document for Province of BritiSh Columbia I
November 1999


0.4. But the medical authority just don't have
enough money. Surely your
ocapany with profits of over a billion pounds
could afford a small
fraction of its profits on such an important
project.
The external scientific research we already fund
relating to smoking
and health issues is about 11,500,000 worldwide,
(the industry spends
about L6,000,000).
In term of research relating to heart disease and
circulatory
disorders the figure is some 9200,000 (out of
industry funding of
about 1500, 000).
In addition the U.K. industry covenant funds to
the Independant
Scientific OmTdttee at the rate of L1,000,000 per
annum. 7hey fund
various studies, most of which involve diseases of
the circulatory
systems, e.g. a study at Oxford called "Isis-2".
Perhaps there is a ca e for altering the priority
in medical fLmding
so that research on carculatory diseases is
supported to a greater
extent. Fbr example, of the (577,890) deaths
recorded in England and
Wales in 1981 (last available year for data) sane
50% were given on
death certificates as disea es of the circulatory
system whereas less
than 25% were ascribed to malignant neoplasms or
cancer.
(As far as we are aware the funding does riot
reflect these
PjLyyU.LLicns.)
O.S. Surely in view of the effects of smoking on
heart disea e you feel
under some moral obligation to support the
proposed institute.
A. 5. While there is an association between
smoking and various circulatory
disorders the interpretation of this association,
which is often weak,
is still under discussion. As regards any
association between mmking
and thrarbosis, the U.K. Surgeon General,.in his
1979 report, could
not make his mind up on the matter.
3
BATCo document for Province of British Columbia I
November 1999


NOrE 1
Lord Goodlinan (Life Peer) - Master of University
College, Oxford, etc.
Vice Chairman
Sir Ehmanual. Kaye - Joint Flounder of Lancing
Bagnall etc. Trustee,
Glydenbourne.
Lord Kissin (T-i Peer) President Gainess Peat
Group.
Professor G.V.R. Born FRS Professor of
Pharmacology, King's College,
Lcndon. Previously Professor of Pharmacology,
Canbridge arxI fellow of Gonville
and Cains.
(N.B. Unusual to move Cambridge - Lcndcn.)
Dr. D. Jackson - Director Clinical Pharmacology
Beecham Pharmaceutical.
4 -
CX
01
BATCo document for Province of British Columbia I
November 1999