Cambridge spin-out wins innovation award

Sentinel Oncology has been named the winner in the Discovery and Development category of the 2008 ERBI Biotech Regional Awards. The award recognises the contribution a company makes to the UK’s position in the development of innovative new medicines.

“We are delighted to be recognised by ERBI in receipt of this award for innovation in drug discovery.” said Bob Boyle, Director of Sentinel Oncology. “Our technology represents an exciting opportunity to develop new drugs that will offer improved treatment options for cancer patients. The company has progressed from the early start-up phase and now has a strong pipeline of discovery programmes, all of which are relevant to the treatment of difficult-to-cure cancers.

Sentinel Oncology was founded at the beginning of 2005 by medicinal chemists Bob Boyle and Stuart Travers, together with businessman Gavin Simpson. In March 2006 Sentinel received investment from the Cambridge University Challenge Fund. At the same time the company appointed Cambridge professor Ashok Venkitaraman, at the Hutchison/MRC Research Centre, to the board of Sentinel Oncology as a non-Executive Director. During 2007 further funding was received from the Wellcome Trust as part of its Seeding Drug Discovery initiative.

Commenting on the award, Sentinel Oncology Director Stuart Travers said: “Sentinel Oncology focuses on the development of drugs that exploit tumour hypoxia and DNA response pathways. This is a novel approach that we have successfully developed in collaboration with a world class advisory network. Our ultimate goal is the discovery of drugs for untreatable cancers and we are honoured to be recognised by ERBI for our efforts.”