Latest news from the Centre for Drug Development

In collaboration with Cytovation and the Norwegian Cancer Society, a new multi-national phase 2 clinical trial has launched for people affected by advanced adrenocortical carcinoma. The study will test the effectiveness and safety of Cytovation’s synthetic peptide therapy.

Cancer Research UK's Centre for Drug Development have partnered with TrialAssure to explore the use of their AI platform to support medical writing of regulatory and clinical trial documents for clinical trials.

Cancer Research UK have partnered with The Royal Marsden and Guardant Health to expand ctDNA molecular testing capacity for people affected by advanced solid cancers across the UK. This includes studies led by our Centre for Drug Development.

This alliance expands on the successful multi-project collaboration between UCB and Cancer Research UK’s Centre for Drug Development to accelerate therapeutics from discovery to early clinical development. UCB has nominated two additional projects from its pipeline to accelerate into the clinic.

The first patient has been dosed in a phase 1 clinical trial of NVG222, NovalGen’s next-generation self-regulating T-cell engager for treating ROR1-positive blood cancers. The trial is delivered at our Centre for Drug Development and led by Chief Investigator Will Townsend at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Precision medicine is transforming cancer treatment – but it also presents new challenges for clinical trials. In an article in Clinical Trials International, Lars Erwig, Director of our Centre for Drug Development, explores how international collaboration could help address these challenges.

Precision medicine is transforming cancer treatment – but it also presents new challenges for clinical trials. In an article in Clinical Trials International, Lars Erwig, Director of our Centre for Drug Development, explores how international collaboration could help address these challenges.

Tim Yap spoke to Sarah Halford about his career spent running clinical trials on both sides of the Atlantic and how the global community can accelerate the development of new treatments.

Aleta Biotherapeutics and Cancer Research UK announce promising findings from the ongoing phase 1/2 ALETA-001 clinical trial. The trial is evaluating the safety, tolerability and early efficacy signals of Aleta’s first-in-class biologic CAR T-cell engage.

Key data from the Phase 1 trial of Nxera’s novel oral EP4 antagonist, HTL0039732, was presented at the ESMO 2025 Congress. The trial successfully met its primary objectives and identified a dose for the ongoing Phase 2 expansion study.

Our first in human trial of NovalGen’s NVG222 starts later this year in patients with lymphoma. The trial, led by Will Townsend (UCLH), will also treat patients at ECMCs in Southampton, Newcastle, Guys and Oxford.