The client is a UK-based SME operating in the life sciences, span out from the University of Cambridge in 2015. This company is revolutionising treatment of aggressive, hard-to-treat cancers through their novel approach to the development of new therapeutics.

Cancer types of particular interest include pancreatic, colorectal, oesophageal, lung cancer, melanoma, prostate, renal and liver cancers.

It is recognised that phosphatidylserine is abnormally present within the cell membrane of these cancerous cells. However, phosphatidylserine is difficult to drug with small molecules and antibodies.

The company has developed an industry validated synthetic biology platform, that has already been utilised to support various collaborative research projects.

This company is now applying their drug discovery platform, to identify novel synthetic biological molecules for undruggable targets.

This client already has a strong presence in industry via 2 R and D collaborations using their synthetic biology platform in the past year alone, including a long-term collaboration with Babraham Research Institute since 2019.

To further the client’s research – key expertise is required in the following areas:

• Phosphatidylserine/oncology biology expertise

• Oncology drug development strategic collaborations with a larger portfolio-based drug developer

• Scientific advisory board members, with expertise in oncology and preparing for clinical trials


This client is keen to utilise the skillset and experience of advisers, strategic partners and investors, to put their validated platform to work on cancer - improving outcomes for millions of cancer patients worldwide.
Advantages and innovation
The client has developed novel molecules which bind selectively to phosphatidylserine, a tumour agnostic biomarker of cancer and have further developed these into protein drug conjugates. The client’s protein drug conjugate technology has the following advantages:

• Not specific to a cancer antigen – antigen agnostic – broad applicability for hard-to-treat cancers

• Entirely synthetically made so can be tuned for optimal drug characteristics – such as reduced side effects

• Targets a biomarker that is amplified during treatment – reducing resistance to therapy

• Designed for efficacy in harder-to-treat solid tumours
Technical Specification or Expertise Sought
The client is looking for the following expertise:

1) Cancer biologist/clinical oncologists with expertise in cancer biology particularly relating to the role of phosphatidylserine in cancer cell immune escape

2) Strategic collaboration with a drug developer with expertise in oncology / antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) / peptide drug conjugates (PDCs)

3) Potential investors with focus on early-stage therapeutics development