Drug discovery
Work with us to identify and advance novel approaches with the potential to deliver the next generation of cancer medicines.
The trial of the drug called AZD3965, developed by AstraZeneca, will be undertaken by Cancer Research UK’s National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre, based at the Northern Institute of Cancer Research at Newcastle University, as well as at least one other clinical centre.
Approximately 63 cancer patients will take part in the first clinical trial of the compound to see if it is safe and can benefit cancer patients.* Cancer Research UK’s DDO have collaborated closely with the trial clinical centres to plan, design and gain regulatory and ethical approval for this exciting first in class, first in man study. The DDO is sponsoring, funding and managing the trial whilst AstraZeneca is providing the drug.
Trial lead, Professor Ruth Plummer, Cancer Research UK clinician at the Northern Institute of Cancer Research at Newcastle University, said: “I’m excited to open this trial of a completely new type of cancer treatment, which continues our drive for the most effective new treatments to give patients the best chance of surviving this dreadful disease. It’s heartbreaking for cancer patients when the drugs have stopped working and they have run out of options. But we hope new drugs will be able to save their lives in the future.”
AZD3965 targets monocarboxylate transporter 1 (MCT1) which is essential in cell metabolism. Blocking this transporter limits cancer cells’ ability to generate energy, and decreases their capacity to survive.
Susan Galbraith, head of the oncology innovative medicines unit at AstraZeneca, said: “Targeting tumour cell metabolism represents a novel and exciting approach to potentially treat cancer. AstraZeneca is delighted to be working with Cancer Research UK to investigate the utility of AZD3965 which is aimed to address the needs of cancer sufferers.”
The drug has been developed through Cancer Research UK's Clinical Development Partnerships (CDP) scheme.**
CDP is a joint initiative between Cancer Research UK’s DDO and Cancer Research Technology, to progress promising anti-cancer agents which pharmaceutical companies do not have the resources to progress, through early phase clinical trials. This is the fifth drug from the scheme to enter clinical trials.
Dr Nigel Blackburn, director of drug development at the DDO, said: “We’re delighted to open this clinical trial of such a promising new drug which cuts off the energy supply to tumour cells and kills them. This is the fifth drug from our CDP programme to reach clinical trials – without the scheme it simply might not have been possible to provide this drug to patients. We’ll continue to build on these successes to accelerate the development of further treatments though new trials of drugs which otherwise may not have reached patients for many years.”
Notes to Editors
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*Under the terms of the agreement, AstraZeneca can decide if it wishes to develop the drug further based on the clinical trial data results at the end of the Phase I/IIa trial. If it chooses not to, the rights will be given to Cancer Research Technology to secure an alternative partner and ensure the drug has every possible chance of reaching patients. In either case, the charity will receive a share of any future revenues generated by the drug.
**Drugs in the CDP portfolio:
AZD3965, DI-B4, CEN-209, AZD0424, GSK1070916A, IMA950, AT13148, IL17-E.
Drugs in clinical trials:
AZD0424, GSK1070916A, IMA950, AT13148, AZD-3965
There are eight drugs in the CDP portfolio – including a multipeptide vaccine, a monoclonal antibody and other molecularly targeted drugs. Five treatments have already successfully entered trials with others scheduled to open in 2013.
About Cancer Research UK's Drug Development Office
Cancer Research UK’s Drug Development Office has an impressive record of developing novel treatments for cancer. It currently has a portfolio of around 30 new anti-cancer agents in preclinical development, phase I or early phase II clinical trials. Since 1982, the Cancer Research UK Drug Development Office has taken over 120 potential new anti-cancer agents into clinical trials in patients, six of which have subsequently made it to market and many others are still in clinical development. Marketed drugs include Temozolomide, a drug discovered by Cancer Research UK scientists, that is an effective new treatment for brain cancer and Abiraterone which was co-discovered by Cancer Research UK scientists to treat advanced prostate cancer. Six other drugs are in late development phase III trials. This rate of success is comparable to that of any pharmaceutical company.
About the ECMC Network
The Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre (ECMC) network is jointly supported by Cancer Research UK, the National Institute for Health Research in England, and the Departments of Health of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It launched in 2006, with £35M funding over five years, with a further £35M announced in 2011 for five more years to fund centres across the UK. Each ECMC brings together lab-based experts in cancer biology with cancer doctors to speed up the flow of ideas from the lab bench to the patient’s bedside. Find out more at www.ecmcnetwork.org.uk.
