Cancer Research UK

Cancer Research UK and the KWF Dutch Cancer Society (KWF) have announced a new multi-project strategic partnership to advance promising therapeutic agents for cancer. Under the partnership, KWF intends to provide funding to enable the development of select early phase clinical programmes through Cancer Research UK’s Centre for Drug Development (CDD). The CDD will sponsor and […]

Editor Reece Armstrong provides an introduction to the Fall 2023 issue of Drug Discovery World. Find out more about the issue and how to read it. That this issue should feature a market report on the state of the United Kingdom’s drug discovery sector at the same time the country has regained access to Horizon […]

Following lengthy negotiations, the UK government has announced that the UK will be participating as a fully associated member of Horizon Europe for the remaining life of the programme to 2027. UK researchers can now apply for grants and bid to take part in projects under the Horizon programme. They will also be able to […]

A new study has provided insights into the biological mechanism that supports survival of hard-to-treat cancers. In the new study, led by scientists at The Institute of Cancer Research and published in Nature Communications, researchers identify a new cellular role of a protein called EXD2 nuclease and, importantly, its role in the so-called ALT (alternative […]

Research partners in the UK are progressing their orally available small molecule cancer immunotherapy drug into clinical development as a treatment for advanced solid tumours. Sosei Group and Cancer Research UK announced that the first patient has been dosed in a Phase I/IIa clinical trial evaluating Sosei Heptares’ immunotherapy drug HTL0039732. HTL0039732 works by blocking […]

The UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has granted Aleta Biotherapeutics a clinical trial authorisation (CTA) to evaluate biologic ALETA-001 in a Phase I/II clinical trial in patients with B-cell malignancies who are relapsed/refractory to CD19 CAR-T cell therapy. The company’s collaboration partner, Cancer Research UK’s Centre for Drug Development, has sponsored and […]

Lineage Cell Therapeutics and Cancer Research UK have announced encouraging primary and secondary endpoint results from their clinical study of VAC2 in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Five of eight patients treated (62.5%) had a best response of immune-related stable disease, and three (37.5%) demonstrated immune-related progressive disease. Overall, VAC2 was well-tolerated, there were […]

A Cancer Research UK-funded clinical trial has shown, for the first time, that a new class of antibody could benefit cancer patients whose existing treatments have stopped working. The Phase I clinical trial, sponsored and managed by Cancer Research UK’s Centre for Drug Development, tested whether an IgE antibody could be used to treat cancer. […]

Cancer Research UK has joined the PRIME-ROSE project, a Europe-wide effort to boost patient access to precision cancer medicine (PCM). The PRIME-ROSE consortium consists of 24 partners, including nine beneficiaries and fifteen associated partners who will come together over the course of five years and work with regulators, policymakers, healthcare providers and patient advocacy groups […]

Following the Scottish Research and Drug Development Forum meeting, DDW’s Diana Spencer provides a snapshot of drug discovery in Scotland. With over 150 pharma services/supply companies and 19 universities, Scotland is one of the most advanced life science sectors in the UK and the world. To demonstrate how Scotland is continuing to innovate and shape […]

Cancer Research UK and UCB have agreed a clinical development collaboration to advance two of UCB’s investigational oncology antibody candidates through clinical trials. The collaboration focuses on the development of two investigational antibody candidates, UCB6114 and UCB4594, by bringing together the oncology-focused translational research and clinical development capabilities of Cancer Research UK, and UCB’s antibody […]

Cancer Research UK, The University of Manchester and Roche have opened a multi-drug, precision medicine trial for people with rare cancers.  The trial is set up to recruit both paediatric and adult patients with any rare cancer type and is one of very few precision medicine platform trials in the world targeting these populations.  The […]

Cancer Research UK’s innovation engine, Cancer Research Horizons, and Newcastle University, have agreed an extension of their strategic drug discovery alliance with Astex Pharmaceuticals.  The alliance will continue to focus on the discovery of potential new cancer drugs with associated biomarkers, with the aim of providing an innovative route to the development of more effective […]

Ahead of the UK Government’s Autumn Statement on Thursday, leading biomedical research companies, charities and institutions have called for the Chancellor to place medical and health research at the heart of plans for growth.  The letter has been signed by the Academy of Medical Sciences, Pfizer, Wellcome, the BioIndustry Association, and Cancer Research UK, amongst […]

Scientists have shown how stomach cancers can develop resistance to a new class of drugs called ATR inhibitors by switching off the activity of two key genes – raising the possibility of outsmarting cancer by predicting drug resistance in advance.  The findings could pave the way for a genetic test to predict which patients are […]

Earlier this year, Cancer Research UK (CRUK) launched its innovation engine, Cancer Research Horizons, to streamline drug discovery through the combination of its commercial and therapeutics teams. Reece Armstrong sits down with Cancer Research Horizons’ Chief Business Officer, Tony Hickson and CEO of its Therapeutics division, Hamish Ryder, to learn about the organisation’s goals.  RA: […]