Cancer Research Horizons raises £5m through the Cancer Impact Club

Cancer Research Horizons, the innovation arm of Cancer Research UK, has reached its £5m fundraising target for the Cancer Impact Club, a community of business builders whose philanthropy, expertise and networks is helping to shape the future of cancer treatment.  

With 50 members now recruited, the Club has raised £5m to boost the impact of Cancer Research Horizons’ Seed Fund. 

Focused on patient impact, the Seed Fund aims to tackle the funding gap faced by many early-stage cancer ventures looking to translate their innovation out of the lab and towards the clinic – particularly those focused on rare or hard-to-treat indications, such as brain, pancreatic, or children and young people’s cancers.  

The fund was launched in 2022 with a £15m commitment from Cancer Research UK and is managed by Cancer Research Horizons’ dedicated Ventures team. It provides funding, business building support, and access to expert networks to accelerate early-stage treatments, devices and solutions into patient benefit. 

Together with a £10m donation from Garfield Weston Foundation, donations from the Cancer Impact Club have now doubled the Seed Fund, bringing it to £30m. This generous support is enabling Cancer Research Horizons to make both a greater number and larger scale investments into high-potential, early-stage cancer ventures, as well as strengthen its ability to provide follow-on support to portfolio companies as they progress towards the clinic. 

Cancer Research Horizons has now supported 33 companies through the Seed Fund, with four of those already in or approaching the clinic for cancers of huge unmet need. Most recently, Trogenix has entered Phase I/II stage clinical trials for its potentially transformative treatment for glioblastoma, following the completion of its £70m Series A financing to which Cancer Research Horizons contributed its largest investment to date.  

Testament to the strength and credibility of the cutting-edge science and teams behind the portfolio is that for every £1 committed by the Seed Fund, ventures have secured more than £4 in co-investment from other sources. 

Dr Iain Foulkes, CEO of Cancer Research Horizons, said: “By supporting early-stage cancer ventures the Seed Fund plays a vital role in helping ensure that breakthroughs in the lab deliver new tests, treatments and devices to the clinic. Thanks to the generosity of members of the Cancer Impact Club we can back more pioneering companies as they take forward innovations that could change the future for millions of people affected by cancer.” 

The rapid progress of the Cancer Impact Club since its launch in March 2025 has been driven by a group of committed CRUK supporters who have championed the initiative and advocated for it within their networks. Founder Member Darren Redmayne, CEO of Affinia, was joined in the Founders Circle by Richard Anthony, CEO of Evercore Private Funds, Dale Lattanzio CEO of Isurus Capital and Christiian Marriott, formerly Head of Investor Relations at Equistone Partners Limited 

Darren Redmayne, Cancer Impact Club Founder Member, said: “It’s been amazing to see a powerful philanthropic community come together so quickly through the Cancer Impact Club. Our 50 members are helping progress new innovations while gaining insight into compelling early-stage cancer ventures. Together, we are helping create a potential legacy, as returns from the portfolio could fund further advances for years to come. This form of venture philanthropy is something genuinely special in the UK and we’re grateful to everyone who has helped us reach this important milestone.”

The Cancer Impact Club is part of Cancer Research UK’s More Research, Less Cancer philanthropy campaign which aims to raise £400m to help deliver a golden age of progress in our understanding of the disease. 

Michelle Mitchell, CEO of Cancer Research UK, said: “We’re deeply grateful to the members of the Cancer Impact Club who share our vision of a world where everybody lives longer, better lives, free from the fear of cancer. For 125 years, Cancer Research UK has helped drive discoveries that have transformed how we prevent, diagnose and treat cancer. But there is so much more we can do. Support from the Club will help turn more of our world class research into new tests and treatments – so more people, now and in the future, can have more precious time with the people they love." 

Cancer Research Horizons is the innovation engine of Cancer Research UK – the world's largest charitable funder of cancer research. It brings together world-leading minds, bold ideas and the right partners to bridge the gap between academic research and taking drugs to market. It focuses on the tougher, more profound ideas that can lead to true innovation, translating them into effective treatments and diagnostics for cancer patients.   

To date, it has played an instrumental role in forming over 90 start-ups. It has helped bring 14 cancer drugs to market, born out of Cancer Research UK's pioneering research. Through these drugs, it has 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, it is a powerful partner in the fight to conquer cancer. By uniting its commercial partnerships and therapeutic innovation capabilities, Cancer Research Horizons is uniquely placed to support translational funding, entrepreneurial development, data licensing and collaboration, spin-out creation, and offer a full spectrum of drug discovery and clinical capabilities.  

Every penny it makes 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.  

Tanya Hughes 
Investor and External Relations Lead, Ventures 
Cancer Research Horizons 
E: [email protected]