Latest news from the Centre for Drug Development

Our director, Lars Erwig, speaks with Drug Discovery World about why international partnering is one way to ease the burden of patient recruitment while addressing the funding crisis for clinical trials.

Patricia LoRusso, Chair of our New Agents Committee, in conversation with our Director, Lars Erwig, shares her journey in cancer drug development, the mentors who shaped her career and how she became AACR President for 2024/25.

A new paper in Nature Communications shares how treatment with MOv18, a novel antibody class targeting the folate receptor alpha antigen, reactivates patients immune cells to fight ovarian cancer. We supported its preclinical development and funded, sponsored and conducted the first in class Phase I clinical trial led by Professor James Spicer at Guy's and St Thomas' Clinical Research Facility.

After her cancer treatment stopped working, Pamela Garner-Jones matched to a treatment on our DETERMINE trial via the TARGET National study, a molecular profiling programme that identifies mutations in certain genes. The results have been life-changing, with Pamela's tumours shrinking by two-thirds and her symptoms improving.

We signed an agreement with Cytovation and the Norwegian Cancer Society to take Cytovation's lead asset CY101 into a multi-national clinical trial. The trial will treat people with adrenocortical cancer, a rare and aggressive cancer with limited treatment options and an urgent need for new therapies. We'll develop, sponsor and manage the trial with NCS providing co-funding.

We've signed a landmark agreement with KisoJi Biotechnology to bring their lead asset into a first in human clinical trial. The trial will treat people with TROP2 expressing tumours which include colorectal, head and neck, ovarian, breast and bladder cancers. It will be led by Professor Christian Ottensmeier at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre in Liverpool.

The first patient has been treated in our trial of HLA-G antibody UCB4594, the second trial in our collaboration with UCB. UCB4594 will be given to people with advanced cancer to prime their immune system to attack their cancer. The trial led by Professor Fiona Thistlethwaite at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester, with other UK sites to follow.

We're collaborating with NovalGen, a pioneering clinical stage immunology company, to bring their next generation T cell engager NVG-222 into two first in human clinical trials. The trials will be led by Dr William Townsend at University College London Hospitals and Professor James Spicer at Guy's and St Thomas'.

See the results of our clinical trial of BT1718 in people with squamous non-small cell lung cancer and other MT1-MMP expressing cancers. The trial was led by Professor Udai Banerji at The Institute of Cancer Research.

Our trial of Nxera's novel EP4 antagonist HTL0039732 led by Dr Bristi Basu at the Cambridge Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre was presented at the 2024 ESMO Congress in Barcelona.

Lars Erwig, our Director, talks to The Medicine Maker about developing treatments for rare cancers and the need for pharma companies to increase collaboration with non-profits to deliver the best outcomes for patients.