Cancer Research UK and Cancer Research Technology Join Forces with Astellas on Autophagy to Find New Cancer Treatments

Cancer Research UK and its commercial arm, Cancer Research Technology (CRT), are to join forces with Astellas Pharma Inc. to find new drug targets in the fight against cancer, with an initial focus on pancreatic cancer.

As part of a new collaboration, Cancer Research UK, CRT and Astellas will conduct a 2-year research programme in the UK to find promising new drug targets for pancreatic cancer.

Certain pancreatic cancers are dependent on autophagy, the process of consuming your own cellular parts for energy, to grow. Blocking this pathway may help stop some pancreatic cancers.

Under the terms of the deal, the first stage aims to identify and then validate the best possible drug targets to block the autophagy pathway in pancreatic cancer cells. This research will be done by Professor Kevin Ryan at the Cancer Research UK Beatson Institute and Dr Sharon Tooze at the Cancer Research UK London Research Institute. Astellas has an exclusive licence to progress the most promising candidates through further drug discovery and development, subject to certain milestone and royalty payments to CRT.

Professor Kevin Ryan, Cancer Research UK scientist based at the Cancer Research UK Beatson Institute, said: “This is an exciting opportunity to develop new drugs for pancreatic cancer where there is an urgent need for new treatments. Research suggests that pancreatic cancer can be dependent on autophagy making it an excellent pathway to target for drug discovery.”

Kenji Yasukawa, PhD, Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer, Astellas, said "Since May 2013, Astellas has invited researchers from around the world to collaborate to increase drug discovery opportunities and expand development pipelines. The aim is to establish links with overseas researchers who have ideas that possess a high level of novelty and creativity. This consortium with Cancer Research UK and CRT is one of the collaborations to be achieved through this global initiative."

Dr Keith Blundy, Cancer Research Technology’s CEO, said: “In establishing this significant collaboration, the first of its kind between CRT and a Japanese pharmaceutical company, we’re bringing together Cancer Research UK’s world-leading target validation expertise and Astellas’ proven track record on drug development, which we hope will lead to new drugs for pancreatic cancer patients. We’re excited to commence this collaboration and look forward to furthering our relationship with Astellas in the future.”