Rationale
As part of its mission to beat cancer, Cancer Research UK has a well established drug development programme. Of the agents that have completed Phase I through the charity, over 5% have subsequently been registered by companies as marketed products - a conversion rate that compares with the pharmaceutical industry.
The charity, therefore, provides a critical resource for cancer patients, both in terms of expanding the therapeutic options available to cancer physicians, and in terms of exploring novel therapeutic approaches that may result in new treatments in the future. In order to develop this resource and improve the numbers of successful new treatments becoming available for cancer patients, Cancer Research UK made a strategic decision in 2005 to expand its drug development activities.
Clinical Development Partnerships (CDP) is a joint initiative launched by Cancer Research UK in collaboration with its development and commercialisation company Cancer Research Technology Limited. By working with leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies CDP aims to identify more promising new treatments that otherwise may not be developed and to take them into clinical development at no cost to the company.
Phase I and II clinical trials will be sponsored and co-ordinated by Cancer Research UK's Drug Development Office (DDO).
