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KuDOS Pharmaceuticals signs agreements with University of Cambridge and CRT

On June 28, 2004 KuDOS Pharmaceuticals Limited, a leading private oncology company,reported to has signed agreements with The University of Cambridge and Cancer Research Technology Limited (CRT), the technology transfer company of the charity Cancer Research UK, to ensure continued access to the technology generated in Professor Stephen Jackson’s laboratory at the Wellcome Trust/Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute of Cancer and Developmental Biology at the University of Cambridge(Press release, Cancer Research Technology, JUN 28, 2004, View Source [SID1234523450]). The agreements enable KuDOS continued access to Professor Jackson’s innovative research into DNA repair.

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KuDOS is currently developing potent and highly selective small molecule therapies that block DNA repair in cancer cells, making tumours more vulnerable to the fatal DNA-disrupting effects of both radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Such small molecules promise a significant breakthrough in cancer management, particularly in therapy-resistant tumours, which commonly occur and contribute significantly towards poor prognosis.

Recent developments have greatly improved the understanding of the mechanisms used by cells to identify and repair breaks in DNA, and the potential for drugs that target DNA repair in the treatment of a range of human diseases including cancer.

Professor Jackson is the Frederick James Quick Professor of Biology at the Wellcome Trust/Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute of Cancer and Developmental Biology. He is also the founder and Chief Scientific Officer at KuDOS Pharmaceuticals.

Professor Jackson, said: "We are delighted to continue the commercial relationship between the University of Cambridge, CRT and KuDOS. These agreements will facilitate further research into this new and exciting area, and could have a significant impact on the treatment of cancer."

"Cancer Research UK have for some time supported the high quality research carried out in Prof Jackson’s laboratory and CRT was instrumental in the formation of KuDOS, which has rapidly translated this basic science into potential new medicines. These agreements are an extension of the mutually beneficial relationship all three parties continue to enjoy," said Dr Keith Blundy, Chief Operating Officer of CRT.

Dr David Secher, Director of Research Services at the University of Cambridge, said: "These two agreements between the University of Cambridge/CRT and KuDOS Pharmaceuticals will provide the opportunity to further develop Professor Jackson’s substantial research into therapies that can help with cancer treatment and management. Cambridge Enterprise was pleased to negotiate the agreements on behalf of the University and wishes KuDOS further success."

Sareum announces collaboration with CRT

On June 12, 2004 Sareum Holdings plc (AIM: SAR), the structure-based drug discovery and services business, is pleased to report it has entered into a collaborative agreement with Cancer Research Technology Limited (CRT), the oncology focused technology transfer and development company (Press release, Cancer Research Technology, JUN 12, 2004, View Source [SID1234523442]).

Under the terms of the agreement, which is on a fee-for-service basis and is for 6 months’ duration, Sareum will provide computational chemistry expertise to support several of CRT’s therapeutic discovery programmes in cancer. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Commenting on the announcement, Sareum’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr Tim Mitchell, said: "We are delighted that we have been chosen by Cancer Research Technology to provide these drug discovery services and we look forward to making a valuable contribution to their development programmes."

Commenting on the announcement, CRT’s Head of Medicinal Chemistry, Dr Tony Raynham, said: "Importantly, Sareum’s core capabilities in computational chemistry will support CRT’s medicinal chemistry department in the development of drug candidates arising from the research activities of our parent charity Cancer Research UK and our other prestigious international partners."

Scancell secures exclusive worldwide licence agreement with CRT for two novel cancer vaccines

On May 25, 2004 Scancell Ltd, the Nottingham, UK based cancer therapeutics company, has reported that it has secured an agreement with Cancer Research Technology Limited (CRT) under which Scancell has been granted an exclusive worldwide licence to develop and commercialise two cancer vaccines against Tie-2 and CD55 protein targets for the treatment of solid tumours (Press release, Cancer Research Technology, MAY 25, 2004, View Source [SID1234523451]).

Tie-2 and CD55 offer highly promising approaches to the development of novel vaccines using Scancell’s ImmunoBody technology. Tie-2 is over-expressed on tumour vasculature. Therapeutic vaccines targeting blood vessels can cause vascular collapse and starvation of large tumour areas. CD55 is over-expressed by tumours to protect them from immune attack. A therapeutic vaccine targeting CD55 may therefore destroy tumour cells over-expressing CD55 leaving any remaining cells susceptible to immune clearance through endogenous complement lysis. A combination of both vaccines may lead to dramatic tumour regression by harnessing the body’s immune system to ‘reject’ the tumour.

Commenting on the agreement, Professor Lindy Durrant, CSO of Scancell, said: "We are very pleased that CRT has selected Scancell to develop and commercialise these extremely promising products. This agreement offers Scancell the opportunity to develop two new ImmunoBody vaccines for the treatment of solid tumours. The collaboration with CRT is a further example of how we intend to accelerate the development of the ImmunoBody programme through partnerships over the next few years."

Dr. Keith Blundy, Chief Operating Officer at CRT, said: "Scancell is well positioned to develop the CD55 and Tie-2 vaccines and we anticipate that this deal will enable cancer patients to benefit from this exciting technology in the future."

Scancell’s ImmunoBody approach involves engineering a human antibody to express epitopes from tumour antigens over-expressed by commercially important solid tumours – in this case Tie-2 and CD55. ImmunoBody vaccines efficiently target the dendritic cells in vivo to stimulate effective immunity. They offer the potential to develop more effective vaccines against both cancer and infectious diseases.

BTG takes exclusive licence to new class of cancer drug from CRT & The Institute of Cancer Research

On May 19, 2004 TG (LSE: BGC), the intellectual property and technology commercialisation company, reported that it has concluded a licence and research collaboration agreement with Cancer Research Technology Limited (CRT), the technology transfer company of the charity Cancer Research UK, and The Institute of Cancer Research, for a new class of cancer drug (Press release, Cancer Research Technology, MAY 19, 2004, View Source [SID1234523453]).

Under the terms of this agreement (financial details were not disclosed), BTG has obtained exclusive worldwide rights to a series of novel quinazoline anti-tumour agents developed by Professor Ann Jackman and colleagues at The Institute of Cancer Research. These patented compounds are potent tumour growth inhibitors and appear to have a unique mechanism of action. Given their very promising anti-tumour activity in xenograft models, they show the early signs of being an exciting novel class of anti-tumour agent.

BTG will be responsible for the future development and commercialisation of these compounds, in the first instance partly through a sponsored collaboration at The Institute of Cancer Research. Within this collaborative programme, Professor Jackman and colleagues will continue their laboratory studies on the compounds. BTG intends to then carry the work forward towards entry into the clinic.

Harpal Kumar, CEO of CRT, commented, "CRT are pleased to have entered into this partnership with BTG and The Institute of Cancer Research. We look forward to seeing these promising therapeutic agents progress towards the clinic, with the long-term aim of achieving patient benefit."

Roger Harrison, Head of BTG’s Oncology Business Unit, said, "The laboratory data on these compounds is impressive and suggests an exciting new mode of action. Given confirmation of these data, our aim will be to seek early proof-of-concept before licensing on to a pharmaceutical company partner. This is the model we are using successfully for our other cancer drugs, BGC 9331 and BGC 945."

Astex, The Wellcome Trust, The Institute of Cancer Research & CRT announce major cancer alliance

On March 22, 2004 Astex Technology, the fragment-based drug discovery company, together with The Wellcome Trust, the Institute of Cancer Research and Cancer Research Technology reported an exclusive collaboration relating to the discovery of novel drugs against the cancer target BRAF (Press release, Cancer Research Technology, MAR 22, 2004, View Source [SID1234523455]).

BRAF was first identified as a key target implicated in a variety of cancers in 2002 when scientists from The Institute of Cancer Research, in partnership with scientists from the Cancer Genome Project at The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in Cambridge, discovered that the gene is involved in up to 70% of certain cancer types including malignant melanoma.

The Institute of Cancer Research, The Wellcome Trust and Cancer Research Technology began a drug discovery collaboration in 2003 to identify BRAF inhibitors, and have now been joined by Astex who will contribute expertise in fragment based drug discovery to the collaboration. Under the terms of the agreement, the partners have established a joint research team to identify and develop novel drug candidates for major indications in oncology. This programme will combine the expertise of the partners in fragment-based drug discovery, cancer biology and the preclinical and clinical development of cancer drugs.

Dr Harren Jhoti, Founder and CSO of Astex said, "We are extremely pleased to be part of this world-class team in this important and exciting new therapeutic opportunity for cancer. We look forward to developing novel drugs targeted against BRAF and bringing these to the clinic quickly with the expert support of our collaborators."

Dr Ted Bianco, Director, Technology Transfer, The Wellcome Trust, said "There is excellent synergy between the collaborating parties. Astex’s structure-based approach to drug discovery is highly complementary to the cancer therapeutic resources of the other parties. In partnership we can speed-up the drug development process and reach the clinic earlier"

Professor Peter Rigby, Chief Executive of The Institute of Cancer Research commented: "This collaboration holds great promise for future anti-cancer drug development. Here at The Institute we have been responsible for isolating more cancer genes, and taking more anti- cancer drugs into clinical trials than any other academic organisation in the world. We are delighted that our experts will be working alongside other world leaders in the field to develop drugs in the laboratory which can quickly be translated into patient benefit."

"This partnership further exemplifies CRTs role in bringing benefit to cancer patients by forming partnerships between cancer researchers and industry to accelerate the development of new therapies. Astex’s technologies and resources will add significantly to the rate of progress of the programme." said Keith Blundy, COO of Cancer Research Technology.