Innovate UK funds partnership for development of small-molecule drugs

Cancer immune-oncology company, NeoPhore, and developer of a next-generation phenotypic screening platform, PhoreMost, have been granted funding from Innovate UK in support of the development of novel small-molecule cancer immunotherapy programme.

The companies, partnering on a grant ‘A novel small molecule approach to enhance cancer immunotherapy’, will receive £1 million following the award of a Biomedical Catalyst grant won in a recent competition.

This funding will be used for research into the development of small-molecule drugs that will stimulate cancer immunity by leveraging well-validated genetic mechanisms. The strategy is central to NeoPhore’s approach to spark ‘dynamic neoantigen evolution’ by targeting DNA mismatch repair to induce neoantigen creation in poorly immunogenic tumours.

“We are very pleased to have the support of Innovate UK on another of PhoreMost’s first-in-class projects,” commented PhoreMost CEO Chris Torrance. “Their funding has been critical to enabling PhoreMost to grow from a conceptual start-up into an established novel target and drug discovery platform company. This award provides another instance where Innovate UK has been instrumental in fostering early-stage, differentiated R&D programmes and look forward to continuing our relationship with Innovate UK to provide impactful, novel treatments to patients.”

“We created NeoPhore to accelerate development of a totally new approach for cancer immunotherapy and welcome the support of the Innovate UK award to recognise and promote that business objective,” added NeoPhore CEO Jeff Roix. “The competitive review highlights again how our disruptive therapeutic approach is supported by a well-established body of clinical and laboratory genetic evidence. The funding provides a catalyst to our development plan, which aims to create the first in a new class of immunotherapy drugs, and to translate that therapeutic concept closer to clinical application. We thank Innovate UK for supporting our business model and discovery approach and look forward to unlocking the great commercial and medical potential of our therapeutic approach to create new medicines that promote dynamic neoantigen evolution.”