Astex announces new drug discovery collaboration with University of Newcastle upon Tyne and CRT

Published date:
March 13 2006

Astex Therapeutics today announced a new drug discovery collaboration with the University of Newcastle upon Tyne and Cancer Research Technology (CRT). The collaboration will aim to identify small molecule inhibitors of the Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor (FGFr) tyrosine kinase family suitable for treatment of diseases including multiple myeloma, prostate cancer and other tumour types in which FGFr signalling is deregulated.

The collaboration will aim to identify small molecule inhibitors of the Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor (FGFr) tyrosine kinase family suitable for treatment of diseases including multiple myeloma, prostate cancer and other tumour types in which FGFr signalling is deregulated. Under the terms of the agreement, Astex will provide funding to the University to support the development of model cell systems to test novel drug compounds being developed by Astex. The University and CRT are eligible to receive milestone payments as drug compounds resulting from the collaboration are successfully developed and commercialised by Astex. Further financial details were not disclosed.
 “This new collaboration builds on the experience in model cell systems and FGFr crystallography which was developed in an initial evaluation project with the University and CRT which we began in 2004. The new collaboration allows Astex to continue to access the unique expertise of the University in understanding the biology of FGFr as a novel drug target for the treatment of some of the most important cancers in humans”, said Harren Jhoti, Chief Scientific Officer and Acting CEO.

 

Notes to editors

Tumours result from the disruption of the control processes that regulate normal cellular functions. The disruption occurs at the level of individual proteins and may result from deletion, inappropriate activation/inactivation or over-expression. A relatively small number of proteins are found to be dysregulated in a large proportion of cancers and highlight key processes and signalling pathways responsible for tumourigenesis.
One such family of proteins, regularly implicated in this process, are the receptor tyrosine kinases which include the Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptors. Activation of this pathway drives cell proliferation and promotes survival of tumour cells. Specifically expression of FGFR3 is associated with a subset of patients with multiple myeloma and over expression of FGFR4 is linked to more aggressive forms of prostate cancer.
Inhibition of these receptors in cancers which exhibit aberrations in this pathway have been shown to inhibit tumourigenesis.
An evaluation project, sponsored by Astex, which commenced in 2004, further validated FGFr as an important new drug target in prostate cancer and malignant melanoma.
About Astex
Astex is a UK-based biotechnology company producing novel small molecule therapeutics. Using its pioneering fragment-based drug discovery approach, Astex has rapidly established a broad pipeline of next-generation, molecularly-targeted oncology drugs the first of which, AT7519, is currently in Phase I clinical trials in the US and in the UK. Astex has two further product candidates including AT9311, an oral cell cycle inhibitor, and AT9283, an aurora kinase inhibitor, both of which are in formal pre-clinical development with IND/CTAs planned for early to mid 2006. Astex’s leading position in fragment-based drug discovery derives from its integrated discovery engine, Pyramid™. High-throughput X-ray crystallography and other biophysical techniques are used to identify drug fragments bound to target proteins and to transform the fragments, using efficient medicinal chemistry, into potent, selective drug candidates. Pyramid™ has been successfully applied across a wide variety of therapeutic targets, including those regarded as ‘intractable’ by the pharmaceutical industry, resulting in lead compounds for the potential treatment of cancer, inflammation and Alzheimer’s disease.
Astex’s unprecedented productivity in lead discovery has been endorsed by drug discovery alliances with major pharmaceutical companies including AstraZeneca, Astellas Pharma, Boehringer Ingelheim, Mitsubishi Pharma, Novartis, sanofi-aventis and Schering AG.
Astex was established in 1999 and is well financed by leading, blue chip US and European investors (Abingworth, Advent International, Alta Partners, Apax, GIMV, HypoVereinsbank, Oxford Bioscience Partners, Schering AG and the University of Cambridge).
For further information on Astex please visit the Company’s website at www.astex-therapeutics.com

 

Related content