AstraZeneca and Isis Pharmaceuticals form cancer research alliance

AstraZeneca has allied with Isis Pharmaceuticals to create new personalised cancer therapy options.

The agreement will see the companies teaming up on the discovery and development of novel antisense therapeutics against five cancer targets, including ISIS-STAT3Rx, a drug Isis is currently evaluating in an early clinical trial in patients with advanced lymphomas.

Taking advantage of AstraZeneca's experience in the field of personalised medicines, the alliance will aim to deliver the advantages of ISIS-STAT3Rx to patients that could benefit the most from inhibition of STAT3, a protein that drives cancer growth.

It will be potentially crucial research in the ongoing efforts to find new means of treating cancers that are difficult to address with conventional small molecules or antibodies.

Susan Galbraith, head of the AstraZeneca oncology innovative medicines unit, said: "Isis' antisense technology platform allows AstraZeneca to broaden our oncology research efforts beyond traditional drug discovery methods, while at the same time becoming more specific about how we target cancer."

Earlier this month, the company attended a symposium organised by the Cancer Therapy and Research Center and American Association for Cancer Research, where it presented new data on its breast cancer therapy Faslodex.