Merck and CRT kick off a full drug discovery program aimed at the Hippo pathway.
The Hippo pathway controls organ size in diverse species, whereas any shortcoming or glitch in this pathway can induce tumours in model organisms and is observed in a broad range of human carcinomas, including lung, colorectal, ovarian and liver cancer.
As a result, the partnership has now moved into drug discovery with an aim to identify molecules to take into preclinical studies and clinical trials.
Under the terms of this recent deal, CRT, the commercial arm of Cancer Research UK, will receive royalties and milestone payments to be invested into charity’s research.
The move follows a successful one-year (in 2015) target validation and drug discovery feasibility partnership between CRT’s Discovery Laboratories in London and Cambridge and Merck at Darmstadt in Germany, during which the team sought to increase understanding of the role of the Hippo pathway in cancer.
“The extension and expansion of this alliance showcases the success of Cancer Research Technology’s Discovery Laboratories drug discovery approach in moving forward exciting new approaches to cancer therapy. We’ve brought together leading academics in the field and industry to build on world-class research, and we’re now focused on developing these early projects for the benefit of cancer patients,”
CRT CEO Iain Foulkes, Ph.D., said in a statement.If the duo does manage to find drugs that keep the reins in on cell growth, they could improve outcomes for patients with tumors that are poised to spread.
