ICR and NeoPhore announce immuno-oncology collaboration to develop new cancer drugs

23 Apr 2023
Immunotherapy
ICR and NeoPhore announce immuno-oncology collaboration to develop new cancer drugs
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Source: PMLiVE
The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR)Cancer Research (ICR) in London and small molecule neoantigen immuno-oncology company NeoPhore have announced an agreement aimed at developing new cancer drugs.
Under the strategic research collaboration, an ICR team led by Professor Chris Lord will investigate the effect of NeoPhore’s proprietary small molecule inhibitors against tumours with defined genetic backgrounds.
NeoPhore’s inhibitors target proteins involved in DNA mismatch repair (MMR), an important process in cells that corrects mistakes that are introduced to DNA when they split.
Research by NeoPhore suggests that these MMR modulators have the ability to induce neoantigen expression and increase immunogenicity in solid tumours that become sensitive to immunotherapy.
Lord said: “We are excited about this new collaboration with NeoPhore. Identifying new ways of treating cancer is central to much of what we do here at the ICR and this project will focus on exactly that.
“Our hope is that by working with NeoPhore, we can find new vulnerabilities in cancer cells that can be targeted by drugs that NeoPhore has discovered.”
Also commenting on the new partnership, Dr Matthew Baker, chief executive officer of NeoPhore, said: “Access to [Lord’s] team's scientific expertise will allow us to investigate new mechanisms of action of the MMR pathway in a variety of solid tumours.
“We believe that this impactful collaboration has the potential to broaden the use of MMR inhibitors beyond neoantigen generation. Ultimately the results of the collaboration have the potential to provide significant patient benefit in a variety of solid tumour indications.”
The partnership is the 4th collaboration agreement NeoPhore has signed since 2017, having teamed up with University of Turin, St George’s University of London and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
Meanwhile, the ICR said it is continuing to seek new industry collaborations to develop new cancer treatments.
Late last year, researchers from the ICR and the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust revealed joint plans to create a new generation of treatments that target the ecosystems within the body supporting cancer.
The five-year strategy aims to accelerate progress for cancer patients by leveraging the latest advances in scientific knowledge and technology to focus research on the cells, signals and immune responses in the tissue environment that nurtures tumours.
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