Cancer Research UK’s subsidiary Cancer Research Technology (CRT) has signed a drug discovery collaboration with Celgene for the development and commercialisation of new anti-cancer treatments.
The partnership represents an expansion of CRT’s translational model that now covers six industry partnerships.
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It is centred on messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) translation, which is said to have the potential to produce treatments that can target specific characteristics of cancer cells.
CRT CEO Dr Iain Foulkes said: “This bold and exciting collaboration between one of industry’s leading innovators, Celgene, and CRT is part of our theme-based drug discovery approach and helps leverage our understanding of cancer biology and the needs of patients to drive the most promising discoveries into the clinic.
“This is our largest drug discovery collaboration to date and represents a major endorsement of the reputation and scale of our capacity and expertise in both drug discovery and clinical development by a leading industry partner.”
CRT is set to lead research and development (R&D) activities to progress clinical candidates through Phase I trials.
Under the terms of the five-year agreement, CRT will receive an upfront fee from Celgene, which will have the option to secure US rights to projects resulting from the collaboration.
Celgene will also have the option to secure global rights to completed projects, subject to the payment of additional option fees.
The company pursues drug discovery research in themed partnerships and delivers varied commercial partnering arrangements.
