Nigel McCracken

It’s been a great 2024 for Cancer Research Horizons, with plenty of activity to post about on Linkedin over the course of year. Particular stand outs include; the first patient dosing of several novel portfolio drugs in pancreatic, oesophageal, breast, blood and solid tumour studies; our portfolio companies raising over $300m of new capital to invest in areas such as ADCs, TME & molecular glues; seed financing newcos in areas including brain cancer, RNA, virtual reality and chemotherapy induced sepsis; and launching our new £28m global C:further initiative with LifeArc to discover new drugs addressing childhood cancers. Exciting stuff but still plenty more on the horizon for next year. Have a lovely festive break all. #OnMyHorizon #ChildhoodCancer #CancerResearch

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We, the team at CellCentric, are pioneering a new approach to treat multiple myeloma, with an oral p300/CBP inhibitor drug, inobrodib. Huge progress has been made in treating the disease, particularly with recent antibody-based therapies (BCMA targeting agents, TCEs). But 75% of people diagnosed still die of the condition. Beyond and alongside existing approaches, there is a need for oral agents with novel modes of action. Community based delivery also helps address health inequities, meeting the needs of people who are not suitable or able to access more complex treatments in specialist centres. New financing maintains full momentum to registration studies. RA Capital Management and Pfizer Ventures now join Morningside as shareholders. Further additional contribution too from the American Cancer Society’s impact fund, BrightEdge. Total funding: $60.7m. Great to have Laura Stoppel of RA Capital joining the Board, as well as Irena Melnikova from Pfizer Ventures. Press release: https://lnkd.in/d9QpfvFz Endpoints coverage: https://lnkd.in/dg4geESK. Many thanks Lei Lei Wu Business Weekly: https://lnkd.in/e4ZsaJkA Many thanks Tony Quested #multiplemyeloma Debbie Haynes Tomasz Knurowski Karen Clegg Kris Frese Thea Stanway

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Quicker mutation identification can significantly impact treatment paths and outcomes for lung cancer patients. Our new members’ survey shows 40% of our community had to wait more than 4 weeks for their EGFR+ mutation identification, with over 10% waiting more than 10 weeks. This highlights the critical need for better testing practices to ensure timely treatment for lung cancer patients. Patients need faster, more reliable testing to improve overall survival.

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https://lnkd.in/gBRxXrhx

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Crosswalk Therapeutics is pleased to share our plans to develop a novel, next-generation enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) for Fabry disease. Our discussions with physicians and patients at this year’s WORLDSymposium, MPS Society UK, here for those with rare diseases Fabry Matters conference, and the 8th Update on Fabry Disease event from @Kidneys for Life have further illuminated for us the unmet need in the patient community and the transformative potential of our investigational technology to improve the lives of people living with Fabry disease. Natalia Boukharov, our Head of Nonclinical Research, and John Chapin, our Head of Clinical Research, presented a poster at the 8th Update on Fabry Disease Conference in Hamburg, Germany. The aim of the poster presentation, “An analysis of clinical endpoints and industry-sponsored drug development in Fabry disease,” was to foster a conversation on the challenges of designing Fabry clinical trials. Crosswalk received invaluable feedback and insights from experts. It established new connections that will help facilitate the development of our novel investigational ERT to address the current unmet needs of Fabry patients. "Patients with Fabry disease have had marked improvement in the quality of their lives with the availability of enzyme replacement therapies and more recently chaperone therapy. It is very exciting for these patients, and their treaters, to see the second generation of therapies being developed. The current unmet clinical needs of these patients include the development of anti-drug antibodies, and tissue distribution and efficacy, especially for the cardiomyocytes. The present development efforts are directly targeting these issues and may well usher in an exciting new chapter in the treatment of Fabry disease."- David Warnock, MD, Professor of Medicine (Emeritus), University of Alabama at Birmingham. We are so excited to continue our momentum. Everyone at Crosswalk remains dedicated to the Fabry patient community (patients, caregivers, and loved ones) and we will continue to work tirelessly to develop technology and therapies intended to offer new hope and new options. Learn more about the exciting work we’re doing: https://lnkd.in/eXw_HBAK #raredisease #drugdevelopment #startup #lifesciences #biotech #healthinnovation #fabrydisease #healthcare #pharmaceuticals #healthtechnology #ERT #enzymereplacementtherapy

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ARIZ is very pleased to announce the first phase in a collaboration with the UK's Medical Research Council's Nucleic Acid Therapeutics Accelerator (NATA) to fund early stage development of nucleic acid therapy (NAT) drug candidates for novel gene targets with strong genetic associations to leading cancers. The collaboration combines NATA’s expertise in NAT design and ARIZ’s RNAi compounds, which are being developed to treat a range of cancers. https://lnkd.in/ghR5iFi2 Nick Lench Sritama Bose, PhD Ravi Kiron SIC Venture Studio Jim Burden

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Thrifty use of precious sample should be a 'no brainer', as just 1ul is required for robust highplex results with Olink. All in a simple easy workflow. Further to this, please reflect on the excerpt that is quoted below. Would this be of value to your proteomics projects?

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At #sitryx we understand that an important part of the foundation to a highly functional #team is how it communicates not just with in itself but within the wider organisation to drive our #drugdiscovery forward to develop novel #Therapeutics to address #patient need. A wonderfully engaged session with the #biology team exploring what they understood about #Emotionalintelligence and how it can be used to bring more #effective #communication with enhanced #engagement and positive reaction to challenges.

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For #drughunters looking at off-target effects, promiscuity, and liability in the #proteomics space... look no further than our new Standard Selectivity Profiling service interrogating a whopping 5000 proteins with a turnaround time in 10 days leveraging #cetsa (no need for labeling or tags). See below or reach out to Pelago Bioscience AB and schedule an overview on how we can help advance your #drugdiscovery research.

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Here's the news about the latest CADQAS proficiency test, which is now live. Follow us for updates.

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Fantastic set of talks today highlighting the unsung hero of drug discovery - Enzymology. Sincere thanks to Argyrides Argyrou , Claire McWhirter and Karl Syson for organising such a valuable and engaging symposium, AstraZeneca for hosting and all the speakers for their fantastic presentations! Really important topics discussed including the non-equilibrium environment of biological systems and the requirement for drug and target to be bound in order to have an effect, and the risks of using oversimplified metrics to support programme progression (from simply underestimating affinity through to fundamentally flawed selections). Data is of critical importance to effectively power decision-making and context is key. With the evolving ecosystem of instrumentation (including BMG LABTECH, SPT Labtech, FORMULATRIX, Tecan) reagents (including Cisbio, Revvity, Promega UK) and analytical capabilities (Genedata, GraphPad Prism) all now delivering the quality and consistency required to deliver the data resolution required, these concepts are becoming more readily accessible. Reflecting on the morning session over lunch highlights to me the still largely untapped potential of kinetic information. As an industry, we have been here before, discussing the advances in capabilities and significant merits on offer. However, this has largely been to an audience that is already receptive and uptake has remained pretty flat. So, how do we shift the dial? My personal view is that success is inextricably connected to more effective communication - I will expand on this concept in a future post. However, I’d love to hear your ideas on how you think we should tackle the challenges we face in translating untapped potential into tangible value. Please leave your thoughts below ⬇️ and follow/connect with me if you are keen to contribute to the discussion! #enzymology #kinetics #futuresuccess

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📢 Why public-private partnerships are crucial for UK clinical trials 📢 NWEH welcomes comments from the Minister for Science Lord Vallance speaking yesterday (7 November) at the Financial Times Global Pharma and Biotech Summit in London, stating that Labour seek closer ties with commercial clinical industry to ignite innovation. NWEH is a Manchester based pioneer in clinical trial technologies, using transformative solutions and expertise to streamline clinical trial management, for trials that are smarter, faster and truer-to-life. Our expertise and technology have been long recognised resulting in our recently announced pilot that will test a new model for safely and securely finding participants for clinical trials, using the Medicine and Healthcare product Regulatory Agency’s (MHRA) Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) data services. This initiative aims to improve the speed, scale, inclusivity and representativeness of participants found for novel clinical trials. If successful, the new model could result in enhanced innovation and efficiencies in medical research, improving public access to clinical trials to support the discovery and validation of advanced approaches to treatment and be expanded across the UK. Discover more about the NWEH pilot here https://lnkd.in/enxVevw9 #ClinicalTrials #Innovation #Healthcare #LifeSciences #MHRA #CPRD #ClinicalResearch #Pharma #Pharmaceutical #DiscoverMore #DeliverBetter https://lnkd.in/e9mEjM5y

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The first few patients are always the most critical in the life cycle of a cell therapy product. One gets a fundamental understanding about the product's safety profile, the surgeon's ability to deliver it without major side effects and finally and most importantly, how the cells interact with the diseased retina. The first principles knowledge arrived at over the last few weeks has enhanced our confidence in the eventual ability of this product to potentially transform patient lives. Download the full press release including what our Principal Investigators think from the link below !

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~ UK Biotech Funding Update - October 2024 ~ Big wins this week 🥳 Resolution Therapeutics raised £63.5M in Series B, led by Syncona Limited , to advance macrophage-based cell therapies for liver disease into clinical trials. Enara Bio secured $32.5M in Series B to accelerate TCR-based immunotherapies targeting cancer antigens from the "dark genome." LoQus23 Therapeutics Ltd Therapeutics landed £35M in Series A to develop small-molecule treatments for Huntington's disease, targeting DNA repair pathways. It's great to see the UK market picking up momentum with substantial funding rounds in recent weeks (I haven't mentioned them all!). These investments highlight the confidence in novel therapies, especially as companies push toward clinical trials. 2025 looks promising for further growth and breakthroughs in areas such as immunotherapy and gene therapy. Looking forward to seeing how these companies utilise their new resources to advance their ambitious plans!

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Thrilled to be part of the team creating an AI-powered tool for drug discovery! 🧬🔍 As a statistician, I'm excited to contribute to a solution that will impact so many lives. Let's harness the power of AI to revolutionize medicine together! 💊💡 #DrugDiscovery #AI #Revivocell #Statistics"

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The next chapter in RNA-based medicine What are RNA-therapeutics, and how will they revolutionise medicine? Julie Anderson answers these questions and tells us about CPI’s role in the industry. Read the blog from CPI here > https://bit.ly/4dFcjLo

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**Challenging Times for Pharma CROs** Since January, the preclinical contract research sector has faced significant challenges, with companies like Evotec, Wuxi Apptec, and Gingko Bioworks experiencing a sharp decline in their stock prices, ranging from 60% to 80%. Amidst this downturn, Charles River has managed to maintain stability. It is noteworthy that despite the well-publicized challenges faced by Wuxi Apptec, it has outperformed both Evotec and Gingko Bioworks, which are grappling with their own set of issues. This dramatic decrease in share prices appears to be linked to the broader contraction in big pharma headcount and layoffs. Reduced orders have led to diminished revenue and a slowdown in research activities, raising concerns about a potential vicious cycle for the contract research lab industry.

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Benchmarking metabolomics software just got more precise: this novel simulated and experimental LC-MS data sets reveal that MVAPACK outperforms existing tools, offering unparalleled clarity in both NMR and MS data analysis. #Metabolomics #DataScience #HealthcareInnovation https://lnkd.in/ggBb-XEe

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Want to improve your understanding of the key barriers facing #AdvancedTherapies and how we are working to overcome these? ➡️ https://buff.ly/44lGFOu Our experience and knowledge of #cell and #gene therapies has enabled us to identify these barriers which we call “Challenge Themes”, where we focus our innovation activities, and utilise our unique, collaborative approaches to identify and demonstrate effective solutions. Discover the Challenge Themes ☝️ #CellTherapy #GeneTherapy #ATMPs

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