Date: 2014-08-07
Type of information: R&D agreement
Compound: new drug targets for pancreatic cancer
Company: Cancer Research UK (UK) Cancer Research Technology (UK) Astellas (Japan)
Therapeutic area: Cancer - Oncology
Type agreement: R&D agreement
Action mechanism:
Disease: pancreatic cancer.
Details: * On August 7, 2014, Cancer Research UK and its commercial arm, Cancer Research Technology announced that they are to join forces with Astellas Pharma to find new drug targets in the fight against cancer, with an initial focus on pancreatic cancer. As part of a new collaboration, Cancer Research UK, CRT and Astellas will conduct a two-year research programme in the UK to find promising new drug targets for pancreatic cancer. Certain pancreatic cancers are dependent on autophagy, the process of consuming your own cellular parts for energy, in order to grow. Blocking this pathway may help stop some pancreatic cancers. Under the terms of the deal, the first stage aims to identify and then validate the best possible drug targets to block the autophagy pathway in pancreatic cancer cells. This research will be carried out by Professor Kevin Ryan at the Cancer Research UK Beatson Institute and Dr Sharon Tooze at the Cancer Research UK London Research Institute. Astellas has an exclusive licence to progress the most promising candidates through further drug discovery and development, subject to certain milestone and royalty payments to CRT.
Financial terms: Astellas has an exclusive licence to progress the most promising candidates through further drug discovery and development, subject to certain milestone and royalty payments to CRT.
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