Cancer Research Horizons and Diamond Light Source establish drug discovery partnership
- 10 December 2024
Summary
- Partnership strengthens existing relationship to establish a world-leading fragment-based drug discovery programme
- The combined expertise of both organisations will accelerate hit discovery to identify potent candidates for cancer treatments
- Governance framework to help drive engagement around fragment-screening by X-ray crystallography from pharma and biotech partners across the industry
Cancer Research Horizons, the innovation arm of Cancer Research UK, is partnering with Diamond Light Source, the UK’s national synchrotron, to build a world-leading fragment-based drug discovery programme.
Diamond Light Source accelerates electrons to near light speed, producing bright light that is directed into research instruments known as beamlines. Cancer Research Horizons and its drug discovery site at Newcastle University have already been using Diamond’s beamlines and XChem facility for fragment-based screening, a powerful approach to identify chemical entities that can be developed rapidly into potent candidates.
The new partnership will build on this existing relationship to improve the throughput, running and analysis of these experiments. By leveraging their combined expertise and resources, the partnership aims to accelerate the drug discovery process and help bring new cancer treatments to patients faster.
Under the agreement, Cancer Research Horizons will fund two on-site postdoctoral research assistants dedicated to optimising the delivery of its in-house and industry-partnered projects. In return, Diamond will provide early access to any proprietary developments to its platform.
The partnership will establish a governance framework to enable Cancer Research Horizons to provide feedback on the industrialisation of Diamond’s Fragment Screening platform. This initiative aims to enhance its appeal to Cancer Research Horizons’ pharmaceutical and biotech partners, driving broader industry engagement.
Andrew Turnbull, Group Leader, Structural Biology, Cancer Research Horizons, said: “We are delighted to establish a partnership with Diamond Light Source to capitalise on its XChem fragment screening pipeline, which will synergise with our in-house small-molecule drug discovery capabilities, and enable us to identify chemical starting points against our portfolio of cancer targets to accelerate the delivery of new medicines for patient benefit.”
Elizabeth Shotton, Diamond Light Source’s Head of Industrial Liaison, said: “We are thrilled to partner with Cancer Research Horizons to advance fragment-based drug discovery. By combining our cutting-edge synchrotron technology with the expertise of Cancer Research Horizons, we aim to support the development of new cancer treatments. This collaboration underscores our commitment to leveraging scientific innovation for impactful healthcare solutions.”
Martin Noble, Professor of Structural Biology and Anti-Cancer Drug Discovery at Newcastle University, said: “Scientists in Newcastle are excited to be part of a partnership that brings together expertise and excellence across multiple sites with a shared ambition of accelerating the discovery of new cancer medicines.”
ENDS
About Cancer Research Horizons
Cancer Research Horizons is the innovation engine of Cancer Research UK – the world's largest charitable funder of cancer research. We bring together world-leading minds, bold ideas and the right partners to bridge the gap between academic research and taking drugs to market. We focus on the tougher, more profound ideas that can lead to true innovation, translating them into effective treatments and diagnostics for cancer patients.
To date, we've played an instrumental role in forming over 70 start-ups. We've helped bring 14 cancer drugs to market, borne out of Cancer Research UK's pioneering research. Through these drugs, we have enabled in excess of 6 million courses of treatment for cancer patients across the world.
With access to Cancer Research UK's network of 4,000 exceptional researchers, and £400m of annual research spend, we're a powerful partner in the fight to conquer cancer. By uniting our commercial partnerships and therapeutic innovation capabilities, Cancer Research Horizons is uniquely placed to support translational funding, entrepreneurial development, licensing and collaboration, spinout creation, and offer a full spectrum of drug discovery and clinical capabilities.
Every penny we make goes back into funding the next bold steps, to help bring forward the day when all cancers are conquered.
For more information and to get in touch with the team, visit cancerresearchhorizons.com.
About Diamond Light Source
Diamond Light Source provides industrial and academic user communities with access to state-of-the-art analytical tools to enable world-changing science. Shaped like a huge ring, it works like a giant microscope, accelerating electrons to near light speeds, to produce a light ten billion times brighter than the Sun, which is then directed off into 33 laboratories known as beamlines. In addition to these, Diamond offers access to several integrated laboratories including the world-class Electron Bio-imaging Centre (eBIC) and the Electron Physical Science Imaging Centre (ePSIC).
Diamond serves as an agent of change, addressing 21st century challenges such as disease, clean energy, food security and more. Since operations started, more than 16,000 researchers from both academia and industry have used Diamond to conduct experiments, with the support of approximately 760 world-class staff. Almost 12,000 scientific articles have been published by our users and scientists.
Funded by the UK Government through the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), and by the Wellcome Trust, Diamond is one of the most advanced scientific facilities in the world, and its pioneering capabilities are helping to keep the UK at the forefront of scientific research.
Diamond was set-up as an independent not for profit company through a joint venture, between the UKRI’s Science and Technology Facilities Council and one of the world’s largest biomedical charities, the Wellcome Trust – each respectively owning 86% and 14% of the shareholding.
For further information, please contact Diamond Communications: mailto:[email protected]