publication date: Jul 19, 2011
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author/source: The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR)
A team of scientists at The
Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) has won a prestigious Royal Society of
Chemistry (RSC) award for the discovery and clinical development of prostate
cancer drug abiraterone.
Professor Mike Jarman and colleagues
at the ICR have today been honoured with the 2011 RSC Teamwork in Innovation
Award.
Professor David Phillips, President of the RSC, the largest organisation in
Europe dedicated to advancing the chemical sciences, said the award was granted
"in recognition of their exemplary teamwork and scientific innovation that took
abiraterone from idea to successful multi-centre Phase III clinical trials for
the treatment of prostate cancer."
Last month, abiraterone was approved
in the US for use by men with metastatic "castration-resistant" prostate cancer
who were no longer responding to docetaxel chemotherapy. Janssen Pharmaceutical
Companies also has a pending application for a license to sell the drug in
Europe. Abiraterone is only one of a handful of drugs that have ever been shown
to extend life for men with late-stage prostate cancer.
Phase III trial data published this
week in the
New England
Journal of Medicine found that men given abiraterone together with
the steroid prednisone survived for nearly 15 months, compared to 11 months for
men taking placebo and prednisone. Pain also eased for a much greater number of
patients in the abiraterone treated group versus the placebo group (44 per cent
versus 27 per cent in patients for whom this could be measured).
"I am proud to have been involved in the discovery of
abiraterone, which has the potential to treat up to 10,000 men each year in the
UK who are diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer. I am thrilled that the
ICR team who originated this project and first prepared abiraterone have been
recognised by the Royal Society of Chemistry in the International Year of
Chemistry," Professor Jarman says.
Abiraterone was discovered in what
is now the Cancer Research UK Cancer Therapeutics Unit at the ICR in Sutton,
south of London, and Professor Johann de Bono from the ICR and The Royal
Marsden Hospital led the Phase I, II and pivotal Phase III trials that
culminated in the recent FDA approval. The trials were a collaboration with
Cougar Biotechnology Inc., now a member of the Janssen Pharmaceutical
Companies, and received funding from a number of sources*.
Professor Jarman, now retired, will
accept the award at a ceremony in Birmingham on November 11. The £4,000 prize
will be used to fund ongoing research at the ICR into abiraterone in Professor
de Bono's laboratory.
Abiraterone blocks the synthesis of testosterone, which prostate cancer cells
need to grow. It was designed to block production of male hormones in all
tissues by targeting CYP17, a pivotal enzyme involved in hormone synthesis. The
drug is particularly useful for the treatment of patients with the
"castration-resistant" aggressive form of prostate cancer, who have stopped
responding to standard hormone treatments.
ICR Chief Executive Professor Alan Ashworth says: "It is an immense achievement
to take an idea and turn it into a drug that offers patients a safe and
effective treatment. The scientists involved have shown inspiration, dedication
and teamwork. Abiraterone's discovery and development has been led by The
Institute of Cancer Research and exemplifies the strength of our world-leading
academic drug discovery unit. Important as well is that its success is also
down to the wider teamwork of industry partners, funders, the health service
and other scientific collaborators over more than two decades."
For further information visit
www.icr.ac.uk