Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity (GOSH Charity) has joined Cancer Research Horizons and LifeArc as a core partner to help drive innovation in children’s and young people’s cancer treatment, drug discovery consortium C-Further has announced. 

C-Further is an international consortium of drug discovery and development researchers, clinicians, partners and impact investors with a shared commitment to create new cancer therapeutics for children and young people. 

As a core partner, GOSH Charity will contribute to the consortium’s strategy and operations, while committing up to £10 million ($13.5 million) over the next four years to support the expansion and diversification of C-Further’s portfolio, bringing total funding to £37 million ($50 million).  

The partnership represents the largest research funding commitment made by GOSH Charity to date, and it will enable the adoption of early-stage therapeutic discovery projects into C-Further’s expanding pipeline, more streamlined pipeline progress and expanded operational capacity for the consortium. 

 “GOSH Charity is thrilled to join C-Further as a core partner, and we look forward to working closely with Cancer Research Horizons and LifeArc to identify new therapeutic project opportunities with the greatest impact for children and young people facing cancer,” said Aoife Regan, Director of Impact and Charitable Programmes at GOSH Charity. 

“I’m confident that together, we can help to ensure promising treatments reach clinical trials and ultimately become available to children with the hardest to treat cancers. Alongside this exciting partnership and our ongoing appeal to build a new world-leading Children’s Cancer Centre at GOSH, we want to do everything we can to give children the best chance, and best childhood possible.” 

C-Further aims for ‘better outcomes’ for young people with cancer 

 With close ties to Great Ormond Street Hospital and the UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, GOSH Charity brings to C-Further leading expertise, networks, influence and deep connections to patient groups and families. It is hoped the consortium can build on strong foundations to become one of the fastest-growing child-first drug discovery pipelines. 

 “At C-Further, we aim to tackle major barriers preventing a step-change in outcomes for children and young people with cancer: the lack of drugs specifically designed for these cancers and the unique set of challenges this presents,” David Jenkinson, Head of Childhood Cancer at LifeArc, said. “With GOSH Charity’s renowned expertise, global network and deep ties to patients, C-Further is better positioned to collaborate with the community on systemic challenges and strengthen the innovation ecosystem for better outcomes for children and young people with cancer.” 

Tony Hickson, Chief Business Officer of Cancer Research Horizons, added: “Welcoming GOSH Charity as a C-Further core partner is a powerful step forward in our mission to ensure more children and young people live longer, better lives – free from the fear of cancer.” 

The initial collaborative research projects selected for C-Further’s therapeutic pipeline will be revealed in the coming months.  


Bruno Quinney, Content Team, DDW