Cancer Research Technology (CRT), the commercial company of Cancer Research UK, and Forma Therapeutics announced they have joined forces to introduce a new research initiative.
The partnership will work together to discover innovative tools, technologies and therapeutic drug candidates against a variety of protein homeostasis regulators called deubiquitinating enzymes (DUBs).
CRT said Forma will pair its drug discovery capabilities with CRT’s expertise in translating academic discoveries through its Discovery Laboratories (CRT-DL) and the academic network of Cancer Research UK Principal Investigators.
Cancer Research Technology CEO Keith Blundy said: "Cancer Research UK’s breadth of research combined with CRT-DL’s drug discovery capabilities are a unique platform that has secured the FORMA relationship and will contribute to bringing breakthrough cancer therapeutics to patients."
Together the companies plan to explore the protease enzymes that regulate the ubiquitin-dependent pathway implicated in cancer.
Protein ubiquitination is involved in many cellular processes and human diseases, and are very complex to understand.
Kenneth W. Bair, chief scientific officer and head of Research and Development for FORMA Therapeutics said DUBs represent an attractive area for drug discovery exploration.
"As key regulators of ubiquitin recycling, processing, proofreading and disassembly, there is a tremendous opportunity to build a franchise of complementary therapeutics targeting the diverse collections of protein complexes," he said.
As part of the agreement, a collaborative consortium will be formed consisting of FORMATherapeutics Inc and up to ten FORMA ADDCos (Asset Discovery and Development Company) subsidiaries, Cancer Research Technology – Discovery Laboratories (CRT-DL) and initially five principal investigators from UK universities, the Medical Research Council and Netherlands Cancer Institute.
The five key investigators will focus on furthering the consortium’s understanding of biological and structural insights of DUBs, which partially control the regulation of ubiquitination, and assist the discovery teams.
FORMA will provide research funding support and defined compensation payments for DUB-specific programmes that achieve specified milestones.
Cancer Research UK chief executive Harpal Kumar said: "This alliance with FORMA allows us to explore a very exciting emerging area of biology to identify and develop potential new cancer drugs that will hopefully benefit patients in the future."
Image: Together the companies plan to explore the protease enzymes that regulate ubiquitin-dependent pathway implicated in cancer. Photo: courtesy of 123dan321.
