Cancer Research Horizons collaborates with Diamond to accelerate drug discovery

Cancer Research Horizons, the innovation arm of Cancer Research UK, has announced a strategic partnership with Diamond Light Source, the UK’s national synchrotron, to establish a world-leading fragment-based drug discovery programme.

The new collaboration builds on an existing relationship between the two organisations, strengthening their commitment to accelerating the identification of novel cancer treatments. By combining their expertise, the partnership aims to speed up the drug discovery process, making it easier to find and develop potent candidates for cancer therapies.

Diamond Light Source, a cutting-edge research facility that accelerates electrons to near light speed, uses its unique beamlines to produce intense light for scientific research. The facility is already supporting Cancer Research Horizons and its drug discovery site at Newcastle University in the use of fragment-based screening – a powerful technique to identify chemical compounds that can be rapidly developed into viable drug candidates.

Through this partnership, the aim is to optimise the throughput and analysis of these fragment screening experiments. By working together, the organisations hope to improve the efficiency of the process and ultimately bring new cancer treatments to patients more quickly.

As part of the agreement, Cancer Research Horizons will fund two postdoctoral research assistants who will work onsite at Diamond Light Source to enhance the delivery of both in-house and industry-partnered projects. In exchange, Diamond will offer early access to any proprietary developments arising from its fragment screening platform.

The partnership also aims to establish a governance framework to encourage greater industry engagement with Diamond’s Fragment Screening platform. This initiative will help integrate feedback from Cancer Research Horizons, making the platform more appealing to pharmaceutical and biotech partners and expanding its use across the sector.

Andrew Turnbull, Group Leader in Structural Biology at Cancer Research Horizons, said: “We are delighted to establish a partnership with Diamond Light Source to capitalise on its XChem fragment screening pipeline, which will synergise with our in-house small-molecule drug discovery capabilities, and enable us to identify chemical starting points against our portfolio of cancer targets to accelerate the delivery of new medicines for patient benefit.”

Elizabeth Shotton, Head of Industrial Liaison at Diamond Light Source, commented: “By combining our cutting-edge synchrotron technology with the expertise of Cancer Research Horizons, we aim to support the development of new cancer treatments..”

Martin Noble, Professor of Structural Biology and Anti-Cancer Drug Discovery at Newcastle University, added: “Scientists in Newcastle are excited to be part of this partnership, which brings together expertise and excellence across multiple sites with a shared ambition of accelerating the discovery of new cancer medicines.”

This collaboration is set to enhance the capabilities of both Cancer Research Horizons and Diamond Light Source, reinforcing the UK’s position at the forefront of scientific innovation in cancer drug discovery.