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Cancer Research Technology Ltd.: Biopharma's Gateway to Cancer-Focused Academic Research

 
• By Melanie Senior

Cancer Research Technology - the technology transfer arm of Cancer Research UK, the world's largest charity - has long moved beyond simply commercializing and managing the IP generated by the half billion in research funding provided by Cancer Research UK to five core research institutes across the UK, as well as to researchers at dozens of other universities and organizations. CRT has a growing, 85-strong in-house drug discovery capability which is being expanded with the help of a five-year, £7 million ($11 million) grant from Cancer Research UK - and it's this that lured in AstraZeneca and another industry collaborator, Cephalon.

Cancer Research Technology Ltd.'s February 2010 tie-up with AstraZeneca PLC to develop new anti-cancer drugs was important for several reasons. [See Deal] For starters, it was another sign of Big Pharma's growing interest in tapping academic scientists to help overcome the chronic R&D productivity problem. It also marked the first time CRT has teamed up with industry to actually seek targets and hunt for viable lead molecules together, rather than just licensing out IP. As such, "this was quite a first for a charity-owned technology transfer operation," remarks Keith Blundy, PhD, CRT's CEO.

But CRT – the technology transfer arm of Cancer Research UK, the world's largest charity -- has long moved...

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