Cancer Research Technology Limited (CRT), the oncology-focused development and commercialisation company, and The University of Manchester have entered into an agreement with AstraZeneca to establish a clinical pharmacology biomarker research and discovery collaboration.
Within the collaboration, two clinical pharmacology research fellowships will be jointly funded by Cancer Research UK and AstraZeneca, strengthening existing collaborative links between AstraZeneca, CRT and the Cancer Research UK core-funded Paterson Institute for Cancer Research. The clinical research fellowships aim to identify and validate circulating biomarkers for use in conjunction with targeted cancer therapies. Within the 3-year fellowship programmes, clinical research fellows will receive training in translational research and phase I clinical trials from academic, clinical and industry perspectives at the Paterson Institute for Cancer Research, the Christie Hospital and AstraZeneca. This collaboration serves as a pilot for an anticipated rolling joint Cancer Research UK/AstraZeneca Clinical Pharmacology Programme.
With the emergence of targeted cancer therapies, the development of robust biomarkers that reflect the molecular pathology of tumours, predict or report drug responsiveness is becoming increasingly important for improving the success of patient treatment. Such biomarkers could potentially be used for effective determination of optimum biological dose, establishment of proof-of-concept, selection of patients most likely to respond, and detection of subsequent resistance to treatment. This collaboration focuses on the investigation of blood-borne biomarkers. As blood samples can be taken much more frequently and easily than tissue biopsies, such circulating biomarkers are particularly valuable for the development of targeted cancer therapies.