CAMBRIDGE, U.K., March 20, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Astex Technology, the structure-based drug discovery company, today announced an exclusive research collaboration and licence agreement with the Institute of Cancer Research and Cancer Research Technology, the technology transfer company of Cancer Research UK, relating to the discovery of novel drugs against the enzyme protein kinase B (also known as AKT). Protein kinase B is a key target implicated in a variety of diseases,and is responsible for the inappropriate growth and survival of tumour cells in cancer.
Under the terms of this agreement, Astex and The Institute of Cancer Research have established a joint research team to identify and develop novel drug candidates for major indications in the oncology area. The collaboration will involve world-leading scientists from The Institute, based at both The Institute's site in London and at the Cancer Research UK Centre for Cancer Therapeutics in Sutton, UK. Astex will apply its X-ray crystallography technologies and medicinal chemistry expertise, building upon the work of Professor David Barford who was instrumental in solving the crystal structure of protein kinase B, to design and develop novel drug candidates.
Dr. Harren Jhoti, Founder and CSO of Astex said, "We're very pleased that an organization as prestigious as The Institute of Cancer Research has chosen to work with Astex in this program. As part of a joint project, we will apply our fragment-based lead discovery approach to develop novel drug candidates. These will be evaluated for therapeutic potential by experts in cellular and pre-clinical oncology, based at The Institute's Cancer Research UK Centre for Cancer Therapeutics in Sutton, and headed by Professor Paul Workman."
Professor David Barford of The Institute of Cancer Research said, "Weare delighted to be joining forces with Astex Technology, a company at the leading edge of structure-based drug design methods, to develop inhibitors of protein kinase b, a critical protein target for the treatment of cancer." Professor Paul Workman added "Protein kinase b is an excellent drug target and we are looking forward to working with Astex Technology to accelerate the development of protein kinase b inhibitors for the treatment of patients with a wide range of cancers."
Astex Technology is a structure-based drug discovery company pioneering the use of high throughput X-ray crystallography for the rapid identification of novel drug candidates. The company's unique structural screening approach utilizes protein crystal structures to detect the binding of drug fragments, which are then optimized into potent lead compounds. Facilitating this approach is the company's integrated drug discovery platform of HTX(R) technologies, which covers all aspects of structure-based research, including protein production, crystallization, structure determination, bioinformatics and computational and medicinal chemistry. Astex Technology is focusing its drug discovery approaches on proprietary and public domain protein targets from families and/or pathways. This includes validated kinases, phosphatases and proteases implicated in human disease. Astex has a drug discovery collaboration with AstraZeneca ABand Mitsubishi Pharma, has further research agreements with another large pharmaceutical company, and has structural biology research agreements with AstraZeneca AB, Aventis Pharmaceuticals and Mitsubishi Pharma focused on solving novel cytochrome P450 crystal structures.
About The Institute of Cancer Research:The Institute of Cancer Research is one of the world's leading cancer research organisations and is internationally renowned for the quality of its science. Its mission is the relief of human suffering by pursuing excellence in the fight against cancer. The Institute is an associate institution of the University of London, and works in a unique partnership with the Royal Marsden NHS Trust, which enables scientific discoveries to be translated quickly into patient care.
About Cancer Research UK
Cancer Research UK is the world's largest independent cancer research organisation. It was formed in February 2002 as a result of a merger between the U.K.'s two leading cancer research charities, Imperial Cancer Research Fund and The Cancer Research Campaign. With a team of 3,000 scientists, research doctors and nurses and an annual scientific spend of more than 130 million Pounds, it has a mission to conquer cancer through world-class research. Website: www.cancerresearchuk.org
About Cancer Research Technology Limited Cancer Research Technology (CRT) is a specialist technology transfer company which aims to develop new discoveries in cancer research for the benefit of cancer patients. CRT is owned by the charity, Cancer Research UK. CRT works closely with cancer researchers and their institutes to protect the intellectual property arising from their research and to establish links with commercial partners. CRT facilitates the discovery, development and marketing of new cancer therapeutics and diagnostics. Website: www.cancertechnology.co.uk
Notes for Editors
Tumours result from the disruption of the control processes that regulate normal cellular functions. The disruption occurs at the level of individual proteins and may result from deletion, inappropriate activation/inactivation or over expression. A relatively small number of proteins are found to be dysregulated in a large proportion of cancers and highlight key processes and signalling pathways responsible for tumourigenesis.
One such process found in all tumours is an overactive survival signal, which contributes to the abnormal growth. Protein kinase Bis an important component of one of the best-understood survival pathways and one that is frequently activated in tumours as a result of disruption of the tumour suppressor PTEN.
Drugs that prevent the activation of protein kinase B would thus prevent tumour formation by this pathway.
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