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New CEO to spearhead laboratory expansion at CRT

On April 2, 2007 Cancer Research Technology Ltd. (CRT), reported Dr Keith Blundy as its new chief executive officer (Press release, Cancer Research Technology, APR 2, 2007, View Source [SID1234523390]).

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Dr Blundy will lead ambitious new plans to double the number of scientists employed within CRT’s development laboratories, consolidating the company’s leading global position in translational drug discovery and biotherapeutic development.

Dr Blundy, 46, joined CRT – Cancer Research UK’s development and commercialisation company – in 1998 and has been the company’s chief operating officer since November 2003. He takes up the new position with immediate effect.

He will oversee an expansion of CRT’s drug discovery and biotherapeutic development teams, which are staffed by scientists drawn from academia and industry. The expanded facilities will enable increased activities not only with Cancer Research UK scientists, but also with leading cancer research institutes worldwide.

Prominent in these collaborations will be CRT Inc. – the company’s US subsidiary – and the new Cooperative Research Centre for Cancer Therapeutics (CRC-CT) in Australia.

Dr Melanie Lee, chairman of CRT, said: "Keith has been integral to many significant developments at CRT – he is chairman of our US subsidiary and led the establishment of our new presence in Australia. He has the skills required to lead our ambitious plans for the future and I’m delighted to welcome him to his new position."

Harpal Kumar, Cancer Research UK’s new chief executive and former CEO of CRT, said: "Cancer Research UK is proud to have created and developed such a world-leading technology transfer company. Bringing potential new treatments out of the laboratory to patients is a major priority for the charity, so we see CRT’s expansion as a major step forward towards our vision to beat cancer."

Before joining CRT, Dr Blundy worked in agricultural biotechnology for ten years.

He holds a BSc in Genetics from Leeds University and a PhD from the John Innes Institute. He undertook postdoctoral research in the US as a Fulbright Scholar and has an MBA from London Business School.

At CRT Dr Blundy has been involved in a number of high profile transactions, including the licensing of a programme targeting Hsp90 to Vernalis (now partnered with Novartis and due to enter clinical trials). Dr Blundy has been a director of KuDOS Pharmaceuticals and drove the formation of Chroma Therapeutics.

Dr Blundy said: "This is an extremely exciting period of growth for CRT. Our plans will redefine traditional models of technology transfer."

"The expansion will make us better equipped to meet the diverse demands of our academic collaborators around the world. It will also create many new licensing opportunities with which we can target the pipeline gaps of leading biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies."

"Patient benefit is at the heart of all these developments and I am proud to have the opportunity to lead them".

The expansion from around 45 to 90 scientists will be phased, and will first focus on the current facilities at the Wolfson Institute for Biomedical Research at University College London. The expansion incorporates plans to bring CRT’s expertise to Cancer Research UK institutes in Cambridge, Manchester and Glasgow, integrating CRT drug discovery activity with the charity’s basic research. (Press release, Cancer Research Technology, APR 2, 2007, View Source [SID1234523390])

10-K – Annual report [Section 13 and 15(d), not S-K Item 405]

Advanced Viral Research has filed a 10-K – Annual report [Section 13 and 15(d), not S-K Item 405] with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission .

Fox Chase Cancer Center and CRT Inc. initiate drug discovery collaboration

On March 1, 2007 Cancer Research Technology Inc. (CRT Inc.), the US subsidiary of Cancer Research Technology Limited (CRT Ltd.), and Fox Chase Cancer Center (Fox Chase) reported the initiation of an oncology-focused drug discovery collaboration(Press release, Cancer Research Technology, MAR 1, 2007, View Source [SID1234523391]).

The drug discovery programme focuses on the development of small molecule inhibitors of an undisclosed kinase. The collaboration builds on a series of validated hit compounds possessing relevant cell-based activity, identified by leading Fox Chase research scientists. Hit to lead studies to optimise potency and drug-like characteristics of the compounds will be performed in CRT’s development laboratories located in London, UK. Novel small molecule inhibitors generated by CRT’s medicinal chemists will be characterised in specialised secondary biological assays at Fox Chase.

Dr Larry Steranka, Managing Director of CRT Inc. said, "We are delighted to form this exciting partnership with Fox Chase. This is the first US-academic relationship to be announced by CRT Inc. and builds on the existing relationships established by CRT Ltd."

Frances Galvin, Assistant Director, Business Development of Fox Chase said, "Our relationship with CRT Inc. is essential to bringing these inhibitors from the hits to leads. They have been excellent to work with and I encourage other US academic institutions to consider partnering with them."

Under the terms of the collaboration agreement CRT Inc. will be responsible for the commercialisation of the small molecule inhibitors and associated intellectual property rights arising from the discovery programme. Revenues generated following commercialisation will be shared between the parties.

Progression of Checkpoint Kinase 1 Drug Discovery Programme

On February 6, 2007 Sareum Holdings plc (Sareum) the specialist structure-based drug discovery business, The Institute of Cancer Research (The Institute), Europe’s leading cancer research centre, and Cancer Research Technology Limited (CRT), the oncology focused development and commercialisation company, reported that novel small molecule compounds, the subject of a series of patent filings, show activity in targeting Checkpoint Kinase 1 (CHK1) (Press release, Cancer Research Technology, FEB 6, 2007, View Source [SID1234523392]).

CHK1 is a key component of a biochemical pathway responsible for preventing the effectiveness of traditional cancer therapeutics such as chemotherapy and is the primary target of the joint collaboration. The aim of the programme, first announced in July 2005, is to develop potential cancer treatments with valuable benefits for cancer patients including lower doses of existing therapies, fewer adverse side-effects and efficacy where tumours currently do not respond to chemotherapy. In August 2006 Sareum announced that the collaboration had discovered a novel compound series which showed activity in cancer cell models.

The patent filings are part of an ongoing strategy to secure the intellectual property rights relating to the novel compound series developed from this collaboration, their effectiveness in inhibiting CHK1 function and their use in the treatment of cancer.

Sareum has used its expertise in fragment and structure-based drug discovery to identify novel chemical compounds effective against CHK1. These compound series have been rapidly progressed towards drug candidates utilising Sareum’s high throughput medicinal chemistry and structure determination platforms combined with the drug screening, specialist cancer biology and medicinal chemistry expertise at The Cancer Research UK Centre for Cancer Therapeutics at The Institute.

Under the terms of the collaboration agreement, CRT will commercialise the drug candidates developed by the collaboration to secure future clinical development. Payments, milestones and royalties received by CRT will be shared with Sareum and The Institute.

Commenting on the announcement, Sareum’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr Tim Mitchell, said: "The progress of these compounds represents an important milestone in Sareum’s strategy to generate value through our in-house drug discovery. We are now looking forward to advancing our novel chemical series through to clinical candidate nomination."

Professor Paul Workman, Director of The Cancer Research UK Centre for Cancer Therapeutics at The Institute of Cancer Research, said: "We are very pleased with the progress that has been made so far with this project. By utilising the complementary expertise of each organisation we can speed up the drug development process and bring new treatments to patients as soon as possible."

CRT announce milestone following initiation of Stimuvax® Phase 3 trial in non small cell lung cancer

On January 11, 2007 Cancer Research Technology Limited (CRT), the oncology-focused development and commercialisation company, reported that a milestone has been reached following entry of Stimuvax into a global phase 3 trial in patients with unresectable stage 3 Non Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) (Press release, Cancer Research Technology, JAN 11, 2007, View Source [SID1234523393]).

Stimuvax is a liposomal peptide vaccine against the tumour-associated protein MUC1. The vaccine was developed by Biomira under a portfolio of patents licensed by CRT, following Cancer Research UK-funded investigations led by Prof Joyce Taylor-Papadimitriou at Guy’s Hospital, London. Under the terms of the agreement with Biomira, CRT receives development-related milestones and royalties on sales, including a milestone following entry into phase 3 clinical trials. The large multinational phase 3 trial is being undertaken by Biomira’s co-development partner, Merck KGaA, who is also responsible for the regulatory approval and commercialisation of Stimuvax in all territories apart from Canada. Merck KGaA additionally plans to investigate the use of Stimuvax to treat other types of cancer.

Lung cancer is the most common cancer worldwide with 1.2 million new cases occurring annually. It remains the leading cancer killer. Survival times for patients diagnosed with the disease are extremely poor. In the US, 80% of patients presenting with advanced disease will not survive 5 years and survival rates are considerably lower than this in many other parts of the world. NSCLC accounts for 80% of total lung cancer cases and current standard treatments for lung cancer patients are surgery, platinum-based combination chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

Compared with traditional treatment approaches, anti-cancer vaccines have the advantage that they are likely to be associated with relatively high tumour specificity and low patient toxicity together with prolonged activity. Furthermore, vaccines could potentially be used as a supplementary treatment and be administered in combination with existing cancer therapies.

Keith Blundy, COO of CRT, commented: "We are extremely pleased that Stimuvax, one of CRT’s portfolio of more than 20 partnered agents in clinical development, has entered late-stage clinical trials. Development of targeted vaccines for therapeutic use is an exciting approach that could potentially offer new treatment options in some major cancer indications."