University of Turku and CD3 enter cancer drug development pact
CIP2A protein promotes the malignancy of several types of cancer
Finland's University of Turku and the Centre for Drug Design and Discovery (CD3) of the University of Leuven in Belgium are collaborating on the development of a new type of cancer drug.
Turku's research group, led by Finnish Cancer Institute Research Professor Jukka Westermarck, has identified a promising therapeutic target for the treatment of cancer, CIP2A, which is a protein that promotes the malignancy of several types of cancer.
Since the mechanism used by CIP2A is fundamentally different from any mechanism targeted by currently available cancer drugs or drugs in development, inhibition of CIP2A is a promising area for killing several cancers and circumventing resistance against existing therapies. In addition, the inhibition of CIP2A is not anticipated to cause any severe side-effects and therefore therapeutic targeting of CIP2A holds great promise for the development of new treatments for cancer.
Based on its recent results around the mechanism by which CIP2A exerts its pro-tumorigenic role, the Westermarck laboratory has paved the way for an innovative strategy permitting the development of small molecule inhibitors of CIP2A, which is believed to act as the starting point for the development of new anti-cancer agents. To achieve this goal, Turku has signed a research collaboration agreement with CD3 to further investigate this target and develop small molecule inhibitors of CIP2A.
'I am very excited that by partnering with CD3 we are able to translate our basic research findings to hopefully benefit cancer patients in the future. As Finland lacks the proper resources for academic drug development, this collaboration will also teach us more advanced drug development practices from Belgium,' said Westermarck.
