UK's Redx spins out cancer unit with 120 researchers
This article was originally published in Scrip
A new cancer R&D firm based in Liverpool, UK, was launched today with public sector funding and a portfolio of drug candidates from its originator firm, Redx Pharma.
Redx Oncology will employ 120 scientists to work on a five-year programme advancing potential drugs to treat a range of cancer types. It will be based initially in laboratories in the University of Liverpool, moving later into a new Liverpool BioInnovation Centre.
Redx Oncology's pipeline is the fruit of Redx Pharma's approach to derisked drug development, which Redx Pharma CEO Neil Murray says "challenges conventional wisdom within big pharma". While scientists have traditionally attempted to improve upon existing drugs by making chemical changes that leave the essential pharmacophore [the accepted chemical model that explains how a medicine binds to its target] unchanged, Redx aims to alter the pharmacophore itself. The approach involves securing novel IP around existing therapeutics by preparing new compounds that are one or more oxidation states removed from the original drug, but share a structural similarity to parent drugs.
"Working in this way, we have created a substantial library of original compounds. A significant number of these compounds have passed the proof of concept stage. They promise a variety of patient benefits such as greater efficacy, fewer side-effects or offer a different means of delivery – a pill, for example, as opposed to an injection," said Dr Murray.
Redx Pharma uses its Redox Switch platform technology to rapidly assess new drug candidates for further development. "We're a discovery engine for big pharma," said Dr Murray. The company intends to develop candidates as far as proof of concept and then find licensing partners to take them into further clinical development.
Redx Pharma has additional programmes in the areas of cardiovascular medicine, influenza and antibiotics, and hopes to sign its first commercial deals this year. Redx Oncology is aiming to sign deals in its second year of operations.
Redx Oncology garnered £5.9 million of public money from the UK Government's Regional Growth Fund. The firm, which was spun out of Redx Pharma, will be led by managing director Derek Lindsay, a founder of Redx Pharma and formerly R&D director of Avecia Pharmaceutical Products.