First US deal for UK cancer charity

Collaboration agreed

Cancer Research Technology Inc, the US technology transfer arm of the UK charity Cancer Research UK (CRUK), announced its first deal since setting up its Cambridge, Massachusetts, office last April to in-license and commercialise research from publicly funded institutes in North America .

The agreement with the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia will focus on small molecule inhibitors of an undisclosed kinase. The collaboration builds on a series of validated hit compounds possessing relevant activity, identified by Fox Chase. Hit-to-lead studies to optimise potency and drug-like characteristics of the compounds will be performed in the development laboratories of Cancer Research UK’s technology transfer arm, CRT Ltd in London. Small molecule inhibitors generated by CRT will then be characterised in secondary assays at Fox Chase.

Cancer Research Technology Inc. is headed by Larry Steranka, former executive director of Brandeis University's Office of Technology Licensing, and before that, associate director for licensing at Harvard University. Steranka said, “This is the first US-academic relationship to be announced by CRT Inc., and builds on the existing relationships established by CRT Ltd.”

One attraction for US academics of doing a deal with CRT is that it is distinctive among technology transfer organisations for its specialist focus on oncology, and it has its own development laboratory in which it can carry out proof-of-concept studies.

CRUK is the largest cancer charity in Europe and the world’s largest independent funder of oncology research.

Frances Galvin, Assistant Director of Business Development at Fox Chase, said the relationship with CRT Inc. is essential to develop its inhibitors from the hits to leads.  “They have been excellent to work with and I encourage other US academic institutions to consider partnering with them.” 

Under the terms of the collaboration agreement CRT Inc. will be responsible for the commercialisation inhibitors and associated intellectual property rights arising from the discovery programme. Revenues will be shared between the parties.