Abstract

Cancer Research Technology (CRT) is a technology transfer company wholly owned by Cancer Research UK, a UK charity and the largest independent funder of cancer research in the world with an annual basic research spend approaching 0.5 billion US dollars.  CRT is distinct amongst technology transfer organizations as it comprises both a BD TTO function and a small molecule drug discovery laboratory (CRT Discovery Laboratory).  CRT DL employs ~70 full-time scientists drawn from industry and academia and is therefore uniquely positioned to function as a fully capable ‘cancer biotech’ with access and links to both academia and industry partners.  

Over the past 5 years, with target choice becoming increasingly difficult, CRT DL has found that Pharma is more and more willing to enter early discovery phases at risk and as a consequence we have created and now fully switched to a “themed alliance” model of early stage drug discovery. This involves selecting teams of academics across a single pre-determined theme in cancer biology and linking them with Pharma to form multi-skilled alliance teams that generate and prosecute a portfolio of discovery projects in that themed area. This presentation will describe Cancer Research Technology Discovery Laboratory’s alliances and use examples of early, late and successfully prosecuted alliances to outline the mechanisms required to efficiently interact with both academia and industry in order to bring potential new agents and target areas towards the cancer patient.