Clinical Development Partnerships
Clinical Development Partnerships (CDP) is a joint initiative launched by Cancer Research Technology and Cancer Research UK. CDP aims to increase the number of successful new treatments for cancer patients by taking more compounds into clinical development.
The programme is primarily targeted at leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies who have large pipelines and are forced to prioritise which agents they take into clinical development. Clinical trials are inherently expensive and rigorous selection criteria are applied to potential agents. As a result many promising cancer agents have been shelved and their clinical development discontinued.
CDP offers companies an alternative path for clinical development bringing new life to deprioritised cancer agents. It is a unique opportunity for companies to maximise the value of their shelved assets and work with Cancer Research UK, the largest independent organisation dedicated to cancer research in the world, to develop new agents for the benefit of cancer patients.
Since its formation in 2006, CDP has seen 7 treatments enter the programme:
Centella Therapeutics 
CEN-209 – a radiotherapy enhancing drug (announced May 2011).
AstraZeneca 
AZD-3965 - targets the monocarboxylate transporter 1 (MCT1) which is essential in cell metabolism (announced September 2010).
immatics biotechnologies 
IMA950 treatment vaccine, for glioblastoma multiforme (GMB), one of the most common forms of brain cancer (announced February 2010).
Merck KGaA 
DI-B4, an investigational anti-cancer drug to target leukaemia and lymphoma (announced January 2010).
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 
1070916A, an aurora kinase inhibitor drug to target advanced solid tumours (announced May 2009).
Astex Therapeutics 
AT13148 - a protein kinase B inhibitor (announced September 2008).
AstraZeneca
AZD0424 - a tyrosine kinase inhibitor (announced May 2008).
To find out more about these collaborations and the CDP initiative please visit the CDP website.