VC boom: U.K. charity births $80M biotech fund for cancer drug research

Posted under Blog, cancer research, Cancer Research UK, Companies, CRT Pioneer Fund, Diagnostics, Europe, Funding, Medical Devices, Medical Supply, Pharmaceuticals, R&D, Startups, Universities, Videos by john

An $80 million biotech fund is taking shape in the U.K., the latest in a series of new venture plays that will start pumping cash into upstart drug development companies. The commercial arm of Cancer Research UK has joined hands with the European Investment Fund to launch a 25 million euro fund specifically to help developers bridge the gap between preclinical work and mid-stage studies. And they plan to double that in two years if all things work out according to plan.

Dubbed the CRT Pioneer Fund, backers say they'll support scientists who are taking cancer drugs from discovery on to the threshold of Phase II studies--a segment that's been avoided by many classic venture groups. The bulk of the cash will be reserved for cancer treatments studied by Cancer Research UK scientists. 

"This important investment means we can take forward the most innovative approaches using our in-house drug discovery and development capabilities, to progress promising treatments from the lab all the way to clinical trials, translating our world-class scientific research into new treatments more quickly," said Keith Blundy, CEO of Cancer Research Technology.

The announcement is just the latest in a string of new biotech funding efforts that could benefit the U.K., a hotbed of drug research which has been afflicted by a chilly investment scene in recent years. Index Ventures launched a $200 million fund--primarily for European companies--with GlaxoSmithKline ($GSK) and Johnson & Johnson ($JNJ) which is also zeroing in on early-stage work. The Wellcome Trust launched its $317 million Project Sigma just days ago. Sir Chris Evans (photo), who's been leading the charge for greater investment in the industry, launched a $132 million fund in Wales with an eye to pushing that to $375 million. And Scottish Enterprises is reportedly putting the finishing touches on a new fund that would pump "tens of millions of pounds" into the life sciences.

Add it all up and you have about $730 million-plus in the works for the U.K. and Europe. That's a significant amount of support for a research community that is bristling with talent and promising discovery work.

- here's the release
- get the story from Reuters 

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U.K. charities campaign to modify pricey regs in trials directive

Posted under Blog, Cancer Research UK, Clinical Trials, Companies, Diagnostics, Funding, Medical Devices, Medical Supply, Pharmaceuticals, Startups, United Kingdom, Universities, Videos by John Carroll

A group of charities in the U.K. is spearheading an effort to modify the EU's Clinical Trials Directive, a set of regulations which was intended to improve the safety of drug studies and which critics maintain has driven up the cost of studies and threatened to wipe out the drug research business in Europe.

According to The Telegraph, Cancer Research UK has joined a coalition that insists the directive created a battery of onerous regulations which significantly added to the cost of research without doing anything to improve safety.

"We are driving a Rolls Royce organization down a cart track, in terms of the bureaucracy and impediments that we have to overcome along the way," Cancer Research UK chief clinician Professor Peter Johnson tells the British newspaper. "The directive has just about doubled our costs for maintaining a portfolio of trials, because the cost of manpower pretty much doubled."

As an example, Johnson cites how requirements on reporting every adverse effect in a study prevented investigators from setting out to determine whether a common nutrient--with a clear safety profile--should be added to a cancer treatment. And with the number of clinical trials in the U.K. dwindling as the drug R&D industry finds itself being slashed by Big Pharma, the critics maintain that lawmakers need to act now, before the clinical trial business in Europe finds itself outsourced entirely to other, less expensive, regions of the world.

The group may have picked a poor example to make their case, though. Even if nutrients or other additives with a clear safety profile may get a pass on some of the regulations in the directive, it's unlikely that developers would be allowed to do a study of any new drug or drug combo without being required to report on adverse events. Modifying the directive in that one respect may do little to bring down the cost of any true drug study.

- here's the story from The Telegraph

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