Cancer Research UK Signs Deal With Centella Therapeutics, Inc. to Launch Clinical Development of Radiotherapy-Enhancing Drug

PALO ALTO, Calif. and LONDON, May 25, 2011 /PRNewswire/ —
Cancer Research UK and Cancer Research Technology – the charity’s
development and commercialisation arm – have partnered with
Centella Therapeutics, Inc. of Palo Alto, California, to develop,
manufacture and trial a promising new drug, CEN-209 in cancer
patients with solid tumours.  

CEN-209*, discovered at the Auckland Cancer Society Research
Centre and exclusively licensed to Centella from Auckland
Uniservices Ltd. of New Zealand, is designed to provide benefit
when used together with radiotherapy and chemotherapy to treat
solid tumours. CEN-209 is the seventh drug candidate to enter
Cancer Research UK’s Clinical Development Partnerships (CDP)
scheme.  (See related press release: Centella
Therapeutics Licenses Novel New Drug Designed to Enhance the
Effectiveness of Cancer Treatment, May 23, 2011).

CEN-209 has the potential to destroy the areas of tumours which
are low in oxygen – or hypoxic. Tumour cells become hypoxic
because the blood vessels supplying them with nutrients and oxygen
are often weak, twisted and ineffective due to the rapid growth of
the tumour.  

Cancer cells that are hypoxic are more resistant to chemotherapy
and radiotherapy and often survive such treatment. By destroying
the hypoxic part of tumours with CEN-209 in parallel to
chemotherapy and radiotherapy, it is hoped that this combination
treatment will be more effective.

CDP is a joint initiative between Cancer Research UK’s Drug
Development Office and Cancer Research Technology, to develop
promising anti-cancer agents from companies that are not able to
take them through early phase clinical trials themselves. The CDP
scheme allows companies to retain the background rights to their
programmes while enabling Cancer Research UK to take on early
development work to assess if there is a potential benefit to
ca

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