Cancer Research UK and Cancer Research Technology Initiate Clinical of Astex Drug

Astex Pharmaceuticals

today announced that collaborators Cancer Research UK and its commercial arm Cancer Research Technology (CRT) are launching a trial of an experimental drug shown to simultaneously block many enzymes that control cancer cell growth and death. The 'master-switch' experimental drug, owned by Astex Pharmaceuticals, is being studied in a range of cancer types. Cancer Research UK's Drug Development Office (DDO) will fund, manage and sponsor this early-stage Phase I clinical trial of up to 40 patients at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, and The Royal Marsden Hospital. The drug, AT13148, is one of eight drugs to be developed through Cancer Research UK's Clinical Development Partnerships program, which is a joint initiative between the charity's DDO and CRT. The program develops promising cancer drugs that pharmaceutical companies do not have the resources to progress through early phase clinical trials to see if they can benefit cancer patients. Without this program many promising drugs would be left on the shelves gathering dust. AT13148 is a multi-AGC kinase inhibitor that inhibits several enzymes in the PI3K - AKT