Cancer Research Horizons and AstraZeneca have signed a five-year renewal of the Functional Genomics Centre, a facility dedicated to advancing drug discovery with genome-altering technologies such as CRISPR.

The Functional Genomics Centre was established in 2019 to explore the function and interaction of genes and proteins in cancer and create sophisticated models of the disease for research.

The industry-academic partnership aims to democratise access to functional genomics across Cancer Research UK’s and AstraZeneca’s research communities.

To date, the Functional Genomics Centre has supported researchers from Cancer Research UK’s and AstraZeneca’s networks on almost 100 projects across all stages of translational research, from target discovery and validation, to assessing novel drug combinations.

Douglas Ross-Thriepland, AstraZeneca lead of the Functional Genomics Centre, and Director, AstraZeneca, said: “CRISPR gene editing is an incredibly exciting tool for target discovery. It helps us tap into previously unknown biology and advances our understanding of cancer resistance mechanisms. By combining it with genetic screens, cancer models and computational approaches, our aim is to accelerate the development of new medicines for patients who need them the most.”

As part of the renewal, the Functional Genomics Centre will move from its current location at the Milner Therapeutics Institute to AstraZeneca’s Discovery Centre (DISC), the largest research and development facility in the UK.

Rachel Grimley, SVP Drug Discovery, Cancer Research Horizons, added: “I am delighted to see the next steps for this important partnership. This renewal will enable us to continue to identify novel targets, and gain deeper mechanistic understanding of potential drug therapies, to benefit cancer patients.”

Diana Spencer, Senior Digital Content Editor, DDW