Cancer Research UK and its commercial arm Cancer Research Technology (CRT) will partner with TYG oncology to develop the company’s cancer vaccine candidate TYG100, through a collaboration whose value was not disclosed.
Cancer Research UK did say, however, that it and TYG will share the cost of the process development and production of TYG100 for clinical trials. Cancer Research UK’s Centre for Drug Development (CDD) will sponsor and manage a Phase I clinical trial of TYG100 in cancer patients with advanced solid tumors, a study designed to evaluate drug safety and toxicity.
“TYG100 will be attacking some of the most difficult and deadliest solid tumors, including pancreatic and gastroesophageal cancers,” TYG President Fred Jacobs said in a statement.
The study will take place across the Experimental Cancer Medicine Centres (ECMC) network, a nationwide initiative funded by Cancer Research UK and the UK’s four Health Departments.
At the end of the trial, TYG has the option to either retain rights to TYG100, or transfer them to Cancer Research UK to continue development through a new partner. The collaboration is part of Cancer Research UK’s Clinical Development Partnership (CPD) program.
TYG100, TYG’s first product candidate, is an antigen-specific, active checkpoint-control cancer vaccine being developed to treat gastroenterological cancers such as pancreatic, stomach, and colon cancer. The reversible cancer immunotherapy is designed to work by triggering the production of antibodies that specifically target two members of the gastrin hormone family that help to fuel tumor growth.
“We hope that next-generation cancer vaccines like this one will build on the widespread success of existing hormonal treatments, such as those targeting estrogen in breast cancer and testosterone in prostate cancer,” added Nigel Blackburn, Ph.D., Cancer Research UK’s director of drug development.
Cancer Research UK is a charity primarily concerned with raising money to fund research.
