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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]).

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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.

Charity to make breast cancer gene (BRCA2) gene freely available across europe

On February 11, 2004 Cancer Research UK reported that it secured a Europe-wide patent on the hereditary breast cancer gene BRCA2, in a move that will be welcomed by scientists across the continent(Press release, Cancer Research Technology, FEB 11, 2004, View Source [SID1234523456]).

The patent is based on pioneering work undertaken by Professor Mike Stratton’s team at The Institute of Cancer Research and funded by Cancer Research UK. T

he charity will allow public laboratories throughout Europe to use the patent for free, mirroring its actions in the UK, where it already holds a BRCA2 patent.

News of the award comes in the European Bulletin today (Wednesday), following a successful application to the European Patent Office.

The award will be a significant boost to cancer research throughout the continent, including Britain, where many scientists routinely collaborate with their European colleagues.

Professor Mike Stratton, who is funded by Cancer Research UK and works at The Institute of Cancer Research, discovered the BRCA2 gene back in 1995.

Inheriting a damaged version of the gene gives women a high risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer, and men of developing prostate cancer. As well as being the focus of a wide variety of research projects, testing for variants of BRCA2 is important when providing genetic counselling and advising on preventative treatment for people with a strong family history of cancer.

Cancer Research Technology Limited (CRT), the commercial subsidiary of Cancer Research UK, filed the application and is the legal holder of the patent. The patent covers all attempts to sequence the gene or to test for damaged and inactive variants. Usually, any laboratory wanting to investigate the BRCA2 gene would have to pay a license fee to the patent holder, but CRT has agreed in principle to waive the fees for all public labs that apply to it.

Professor Peter Rigby, Chief Executive of The Institute of Cancer Research, says: "We’re extremely proud as this patent means that the discovery of the BRCA2 gene, which was made here at The Institute, will be freely available for our colleagues throughout Europe to research. We look forward to working with them to further our understanding of how this gene works, and to develop new treatments that will prevent the destructive effect it can have on generations of families."

Professor Alex Markham, Cancer Research UK’s Chief Executive, says: "BRCA2 plays a central role in the inheritance of some important forms of cancer and we’re delighted to have secured the patent for the gene in Europe.

"If the BRCA patents had been owned entirely by private companies, it would have made research into the inheritance of cancer far more expensive and made it costly for doctors to provide genetic services for those with a strong family history."

CRT grants AstraZeneca an exclusive license to a key patent in the field of nuclear receptors

On December 1, 2004 Cancer Research Technology Limited reported that AstraZeneca has licensed exclusive worldwide rights to a patent family relating to a nuclear receptor/co-activator binding motif (Press release, Cancer Research Technology, JAN 12, 2004, View Source [SID1234523443]).

Nuclear receptors require co-activator binding in order to activate gene transcription. Ligand-induced nuclear receptor conformational changes facilitate the recruitment of certain co-activators through the recognition of a specific motif contained within the co-activator protein. Prof. Malcolm Parker’s studies, funded by Cancer Research UK, identified this motif within the co-activator protein known as the LXXLL motif (where L is Leucine and X is any amino acid).

The nuclear receptor family represents a plethora of therapeutic targets for many clinical conditions. AstraZeneca’s research interests initially will focus on the area of respiratory and inflammation; however, broader application is possible across all of the company’s research areas. Targeting the nuclear receptor/co-activator interaction represents an alternative strategy for the inhibition of nuclear receptors.