The Cambridge life science community has created history by spawning the cluster’s and the UK’s second blockbuster drug – and the scientist behind the latest success believes there is much more to come.

Professor Steve Jackson hailed AstraZeneca’s success with the $1 billion blockbuster Lynparza in the ovarian cancer field and further clinical trials success that could lead to a fresh US sales bonanza.

He adds that this success could now be replicated to tackle breast cancers and even pancreatic cancer.

Taking a more panoramic and longer term view, Prof Jackson says the Cambridge BioMedTech cluster has the capability to produce more world-leading solutions to a broad variety of diseases ahead of larger, richer and more celebrated global healthcare centres.

As Business Weekly has previously reported, AstraZeneca is predicting $2 billion a year sales for Lynparza – technology which arose from discoveries made by Professor Jackson’s Cancer Research UK-funded team in Cambridge.

The roots of the technology can be dated back almost two decades to Jackson’s highly productive lab at Cambridge University. And either through a neat mix of symmetry and serendipity or some astonishing crystal gazing both can be writ large in the CV of AstraZeneca, now entrenched in Cambridge.

AstraZeneca paid £702 million for Cambridge Antibody Technology which had developed adalimumab – the first fully human monoclonal antibody drug approved by the FDA – in 2006. Through Abbott Laboratories adalimumab morphed into HUMIRA and become the UK’s first blockbuster in that year. The CAT business was integrated into MedImmune which continues to thrive in Cambridge and the US as AZ’s biologics R & D hothouse.

Olaparib (now marketed as Lynparza) was developed by Cambridge-based pharmaceutical startup KuDOS, which Prof. Jackson founded, and AstraZeneca acquired the technology when it bought KuDOS, also in 2006.

Besides the human benefit, on a commercial basis AZ will be rubbing its hands if Lynparza is anywhere near as successful as HUMIRA turned out to be: In the last year for which ratified figures are available Humira had $4.3 billion of sales in the US and $9.3bn worldwide.

Prof Jackson told Business Weekly: “Lynparza is already a huge commercial success for AstraZeneca with $1bn sales for ovarian cancer. All being well, lynparza should be available to treat breast cancers within a year or so. Now I understand AZ is investigating its use to treat pancreatic cancer; it is all very exciting.

“Cambridge’s BioMedTech community is punching way above its weight in global terms and the trajectory of this momentum is still very much on an upwards arc.

“When I look back at the biotech sector here 10 years ago and compare it to what is being achieved currently it represents staggering progress. More pertinently the stage is now set for many, many more such successful outcomes from the Cambridge cluster in years to come.

“Developing drugs to inhibit DNA repair enzymes and using these drugs to selectively kill certain cancer cells was a concept that led me to set up KuDOS, around 18 years ago.

“It is wonderful to see that the concept and its applicability in improving cancer patients’ lives is now coming-of-age through the success of the KuDOS/AstraZeneca drug Lynparza (olaparib).

“Lynparza, which inhibits the DNA repair enzyme PARP, became a registered medicine for some ovarian cancers in late 2014 and in many cases it is enhancing and extending patients’ lives.

“The recent announcement from AstraZeneca on results from the OlympiAD Phase III clinical trial will hopefully pave the way for Lynparza also becoming prescribed for certain patients whose breast cancers possess BRCA1/2 mutations.

“I am personally extremely optimistic about the prospects for PARP inhibitors, as well as other DNA repair inhibitors, in treating various cancers. I look forward, with with much anticipation and excitement, to learning about further clinical developments.”

AstraZeneca is now firmly headquartered in Cambridge and the sharp-eyed Woodford Investment Management has added to its stake in the business and is predicting strong future growth.
 

The Cambridge life science community has created history by spawning the cluster’s and the UK’s second blockbuster drug – and the scientist behind the latest success believes there is much more to come.

Professor Steve Jackson hailed AstraZeneca’s success with the $1 billion blockbuster Lynparza in the ovarian cancer field and further clinical trials success that could lead to a fresh US sales bonanza.

He adds that this success could now be replicated to tackle breast cancers and even pancreatic cancer.

Taking a more panoramic and longer term view, Prof Jackson says the Cambridge BioMedTech cluster has the capability to produce more world-leading solutions to a broad variety of diseases ahead of larger, richer and more celebrated global healthcare centres.

As Business Weekly has previously reported, AstraZeneca is predicting $2 billion a year sales for Lynparza – technology which arose from discoveries made by Professor Jackson’s Cancer Research UK-funded team in Cambridge.

The roots of the technology can be dated back almost two decades to Jackson’s highly productive lab at Cambridge University. And either through a neat mix of symmetry and serendipity or some astonishing crystal gazing both can be writ large in the CV of AstraZeneca, now entrenched in Cambridge.

AstraZeneca paid £702 million for Cambridge Antibody Technology which had developed adalimumab – the first fully human monoclonal antibody drug approved by the FDA – in 2006. Through Abbott Laboratories adalimumab morphed into HUMIRA and become the UK’s first blockbuster in that year. The CAT business was integrated into MedImmune which continues to thrive in Cambridge and the US as AZ’s biologics R & D hothouse.

Olaparib (now marketed as Lynparza) was developed by Cambridge-based pharmaceutical startup KuDOS, which Prof. Jackson founded, and AstraZeneca acquired the technology when it bought KuDOS, also in 2006.

Besides the human benefit, on a commercial basis AZ will be rubbing its hands if Lynparza is anywhere near as successful as HUMIRA turned out to be: In the last year for which ratified figures are available Humira had $4.3 billion of sales in the US and $9.3bn worldwide.

Prof Jackson told Business Weekly: “Lynparza is already a huge commercial success for AstraZeneca with $1bn sales for ovarian cancer. All being well, lynparza should be available to treat breast cancers within a year or so. Now I understand AZ is investigating its use to treat pancreatic cancer; it is all very exciting.

“Cambridge’s BioMedTech community is punching way above its weight in global terms and the trajectory of this momentum is still very much on an upwards arc.

“When I look back at the biotech sector here 10 years ago and compare it to what is being achieved currently it represents staggering progress. More pertinently the stage is now set for many, many more such successful outcomes from the Cambridge cluster in years to come.

“Developing drugs to inhibit DNA repair enzymes and using these drugs to selectively kill certain cancer cells was a concept that led me to set up KuDOS, around 18 years ago.

“It is wonderful to see that the concept and its applicability in improving cancer patients’ lives is now coming-of-age through the success of the KuDOS/AstraZeneca drug Lynparza (olaparib).

“Lynparza, which inhibits the DNA repair enzyme PARP, became a registered medicine for some ovarian cancers in late 2014 and in many cases it is enhancing and extending patients’ lives.

“The recent announcement from AstraZeneca on results from the OlympiAD Phase III clinical trial will hopefully pave the way for Lynparza also becoming prescribed for certain patients whose breast cancers possess BRCA1/2 mutations.

“I am personally extremely optimistic about the prospects for PARP inhibitors, as well as other DNA repair inhibitors, in treating various cancers. I look forward, with with much anticipation and excitement, to learning about further clinical developments.”

AstraZeneca is now firmly headquartered in Cambridge and the sharp-eyed Woodford Investment Management has added to its stake in the business and is predicting strong future growth.
 

Mid-sized businesses in the East of England have broken the £100 billion revenue barrier yet are in danger of being marginalised in a post-Brexit Britain, according to accounting and advisory firm BDO.

BDO’s ‘New Economy’ report underlines that mid-sized businesses in the region generated bigger revenue growth than their larger and small counterparts.

In the last year they increased turnover by 6.36 per cent to £106bn from £99.6bn while revenue for large businesses locally shrunk by 5.6 per cent to £94bn from £100bn and SME revenues contracted 13 per cent to £11bn from £13bn.

Despite driving East Anglia’s economy, the group risks being overlooked as the UK prepares to leave the European Union, according to BDO. The firm is calling on the Government to prioritise the needs of mid-sized companies as one of three areas that policymakers must get right in order to create a ‘new economy’ that can thrive in the post-Brexit environment.

BDO wants Whitehall to:-
• Encourage the UK’s fast-growth mid-sized businesses (the UK economic engine)
• Create sector and geographic powerhouses
• Ensure open and simple access to global markets and talent

The report’s proposals suggest 22 policy recommendations. It urges the Government to choose ‘simplicity over subsidy’ for the UK tax code, helping to simplify the tax system to support mid-sized companies.

It wants the Government to cut through red-tape and commission ‘shovel-ready’ infrastructure projects that bring immediate economic impact – and to fight hard to retain a variant of the financial services passport which is a core pillar of the UK’s economic success.

Lisa Clampin, lead partner for BDO in East Anglia said: “High-growth mid-sized businesses are the backbone of the East Anglian economy. They contribute jobs, revenue and profits to our region yet, because they are so hard to define, they are overlooked and undervalued.

“With Brexit and more uncertainty looming, this is the time for the Government to engage with this part of our economy and draw on their natural energy, ambition and entrepreneurial spirit to create a ‘new economy’ and help the UK succeed post-Brexit.”

BDO’s New Economy report can be downloaded here – http://ift.tt/2lAvn7C 
 

Several Cambridge scientists and researchers are among the first recipients of funding under a £100 million global challenge designed to find new cures for killer cancers.

The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, AstraZeneca, Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute and Cambridge University departments feature in four initial projects, together worth £71m, being run by international teams as part of Cancer Research UK’s £100m Grand Challenge.

Professor Sir Mike Stratton at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Cambridge, is one of the key figures in the global consortia that collectively form the largest global force ever to be arraigned against the disease.

The initiative has been overseen by a panel of world-leading researchers chaired by Dr Rick Klausner, former director of the U.S. National Cancer Institute. They include cancer researchers, doctors, engineers, physicists, behavioural scientists, epidemiologists, technologists and patients.

The winning projects are designed to revolutionise understanding of cancer and enable medics to better prevent, diagnose and treat the disease in the future.

The international, multidisciplinary teams will be using unparalleled approaches to help develop pioneering solutions to some of cancer’s major challenges.

The four winning teams will:-

1 – Study cancer samples from five continents to understand the DNA damage associated with different cancers, to understand what causes them and if they can be prevented. The project will be led by Professor Stratton with collaborators from France, the US and UK. Worth up to £20m, the project is of epic scale – spanning five continents and 5,000 patient samples. Stratton’s team want to build a much deeper understanding of DNA damage – what causes it and how it leads to cancer. They want to identify as yet unknown causes of cancer, determine which ones are due to environmental exposures and lifestyle behaviours, and figure out exactly how they cause cancer.

2 – Distinguish between those women with DCIS (a condition that can develop into breast cancer) who need treatment and those who don’t, to reduce overtreatment of the condition. This £15m project will be led by Dr Jelle Wesseling at the Netherlands Cancer Institute with collaborators from the US, UK and Netherlands. Co-investigators include Dr Serena Nik-Zainal from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute.

3 – Develop a way to combine new and existing technologies to create virtual representations of tumours, and a global database that catalogues their genetic make-up and metabolism, which could lead to new ways to diagnose and treat the disease. This £16m project will be led by Dr Josephine Bunch at the National Physical Laboratory, London, with collaborators from the US and multiple UK research centres. Co-investigators include Dr Richard Goodwin and Dr Simon Barry of Cambridge-headquartered AstraZeneca UK and Professor Kevin Brindle from Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute.

4 – Create a virtual reality 3D tumour map which will allow scientists and doctors to examine – for the first time and in unprecedented detail – the cellular and molecular make-up of a patient’s entire tumour to improve diagnosis and treatment for the disease. This £20m project will be led by Professor Greg Hannon at the University of Cambridge, with collaborators from Switzerland, Ireland, Canada, the US and UK. 
Co-investigators include Professors Sir Shankar Balasubramanian, Carlos Caldas and Simon Tavaré plus Dr Darrio Bressan from Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute; and Dr Nicholas Walton, Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge.

Sir Harpal Kumar, Cancer Research UK’s chief executive, said: “Cancer Research UK set up the Grand Challenge awards to bring a renewed focus and energy to the fight against cancer. 

“We want to shine a light on the toughest questions that stand in the way of progress. We’re incredibly excited to be able to support these exceptional teams as they help us achieve our ambition.

“Cancer is a global problem, and these projects are part of the global solution. Together, we will redefine cancer – turning it from a disease that so many people die from, to one that many people can live with. We will reduce the number of people worldwide affected by cancer and achieve our goal of beating cancer sooner.”

Phase two of the initiative, when Cancer Research UK plans to issue a set of revised challenges, will launch this summer.
 

Serial UK medical entrepreneurs Trevor Baglin and Jim Huntington have started yet another new business in Cambridge with multi-million dollar global funding – their second company launch in a week.

The duo have reunited the XO1 founding management team to launch SuperX with $11 million Series A Funding with Medicxi and Johnson & Johnson Innovation (JJDC) to develop antibodies with anticoagulant properties.

The SuperX team is engaged in the discovery of antibodies against an undisclosed target in the blood coagulation cascade. SuperX hopes to reach the clinic in 2019.
Exactly seven days ago the entrepreneurs launched Apcintex to target cures for haemophilia, raising around $18m in the process.

Baglin and Huntington were the medical brains behind X01 which was sold to Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc in March 2015.

SuperX CEO David Grainger told Business Weekly: “Jim & Trevor are unique. SuperX is their fifth Medicxi backed company.

“XO1 is among the most successful UK biotech stories ever so it’s really exciting to see the XO1 team re-united with $11m behind them from Medicxi and JnJ to create a new start-up at Babraham.”

Baglin is chief medical officer at SuperX and with Grainger and Huntington, SuperX reunites the entire management team that founded XO1 Ltd.

Huntington, Professor of Molecular Haemostasis at Cambridge University and chief scientific officer for SuperX, said: “SuperX is taking a novel approach to specifically block the thrombosis that causes heart attacks and strokes, which we hope will deliver the ideal anticoagulant treatment for chronic use.”

SuperX has also recruited XO1 veterans Bob Schroff as its operations chief and Jo Davies as its intellectual property manager. Grainger is a partner at Medicxi, the life sciences investment team that spun-out from Index Ventures at the start of 2016.

The SuperX approach is based on observations from unusual case studies in patients. “These experiments of nature have shone a light on the intricacies of blood coagulation pathways that have evaded conventional reductionist science for decades,” explained Baglin, whose eye for an unusual clinical phenotype underpins SuperX.

Based at Babraham Research Campus, SuperX will operate as a virtual biotechnology company, with no internal operations, using an established network of out-sourced drug discovery and development providers, many of which are co-located on the campus.

Grainger said: “Cambridge today leads the world with the strength-in-depth of high quality outsourced drug discovery companies, which gives a virtual start-up like SuperX the ability to compete with global pharmaceutical companies at a fraction of the cost.”