Cancer Team Take Groundbreaking Product to Trials 

Leading oncology company Incanthera has launched a partnership with global investment group Technomark Life Sciences.

The two businesses will work together to prepare ICT2588 - Incanthera’s revolutionary treatment for solid tumours - for clinical trials.

Merseyside-based company Incanthera has developed a groundbreaking ‘smart bomb’ treatment which targets solid tumour cells directly using a unique molecule that allows highly toxic drugs to attack tumours with the potential of virtually no side effects to the rest of the body.

Other patient benefits include fewer side effects and reduced frequency of treatment, resulting in potential cost savings for medical professionals and less disruption for patients.

This groundbreaking opportunity recently scooped Incanthera the Start-Up Company of the Year accolade at the Bionow awards.

The partnership with Technomark has come at a particularly important stage in the development of ICT2588, as the task of finding investors for early stage pharmaceutical development is notoriously difficult.

Dr Simon Ward, Incanthera’s CEO, said: “"I am delighted to have struck this first commercial deal for the company. ICT2588 is now being recognised by the industry as a serious and appealing new drug opportunity and we hope to now move rapidly to the clinic.

Alan Warrander, Non-Executive Director for Incanthera, said: “Incanthera are delighted to have Technomark playing a major role in this current funding round. This financing, coupled with the innovative arrangement with Technomark's co-funding business model, has enabled initiation of the preclinical toxicology package with ICT2588.

“We are excited to have started this phase of the development which will underpin our planned clinical programme with ICT2588 which, we believe, will establish the agent as a novel, effective anticancer drug and with significant commercial prospects.”

Allen Hakimi, Technomark’s CEO, said: “We see Incanthera as a very exciting company in our portfolio, not only because of its novel drug candidate, but also because we intend to participate in the clinical program as part of a long term relationship”.