A £20million national research centre is being built in Glasgow to develop tailored treatments for patients with cancer and heart problems.

First Minister Alex Salmond launched the centre at the South Glasgow Hospitals Campus development in Govan.

Scientists there will examine the genetic make-up of patients and their responses to drugs designed to treat specific diseases.

In doing so they hope to create personalised and effective forms of treatment for cancer, stroke, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.

Experts say there is a clear economic argument for the development of "stratified medicine," as well as the medical benefits.

Of the £595billion spent on pharmaceuticals worldwide in 2011, experts say £393bn was used for therapies that did not produce the desired effect.

Glasgow University has been given funding to create the Stratified Medicine Scotland Innovation Centre at the Govan site.

Professor Anna Dominiczak, the university's Regius Professor of Medicine, said the centre had the potential to deliver "world-leading innovations for treatment of chronic diseases".

The Scottish Funding Council is providing £8m over five years to back the creation of the centre.

Construction work is likely to begin in November, with a fully-operational centre due to open in September 2015.

Professor Dominiczak said: "The South Glasgow Hospitals Campus is the ideal location for the Innovation Centre because it is one of the largest hospital facilities in Europe and located in an area with a high prevalence of chronic diseases."

It was one of three Innovation Centres launched yesterday. The others are Glasgow University's Sensor and Imaging Systems and Edinburgh University's Digital Health and Care unit.

caroline.wilson@ eveningtimes.co.uk