The system for researching new cancer treatments is ‘broken’, one of Britain’s top academics has claimed.

Professor Paul Workman, chief executive of the Institute of Cancer Research in London, accused ‘risk averse’ pharmaceutical firms of only developing drugs they know will turn a profit.

Speaking at the World Oncology Forum in Switzerland, the professor said the war against cancer has lost momentum, despite huge theoretical advances in the laboratory.

‘There have been some impressive advances in the personalised treatment of cancer,’ Professor Workman said.

‘But overall progress has failed to keep pace with the dramatic advances over the last 20 years in our knowledge about cancer biology and genetics.

‘We could, and should, be doing much better.

‘It is my contention that the whole model of cancer drug discovery – in which private companies and academia should be working together to take the most exciting, innovative new drugs to patients – is broken and in need of help.’

Professor Workman, 62, whose own career has focused on the search for cancer treatments, said pharmaceutical giants were only interested in ‘the low hanging fruits’ of cancer which are easily treatable.

He claimed theoretical scientists have identified 500 cancer-related proteins which could be attacked by drugs – but only 5 per cent of these treatments have so far been developed.
A major problem, he admitted, is finance.

Clinical trials are hugely expensive, he said, so companies are unwilling to invest in ‘risky’ drugs which might not be successful.

‘The key to driving faster progress in cancer treatment is incentivising private companies, and the academic organisations that work with them, to take the risks they need to take to discover the truly innovative treatments of the future.

But he also called on universities and drugs firms to change the way they do clinical trials to bring down the cost.

More targeted and smaller clinical trials will reduce the initial outlay, and sharing the cost and risk of trials between universities and companies could benefit all parties, he said.

‘I see our broken model of drug discovery and development as the biggest challenge in our efforts to get exciting and game-changing new drugs to patients,’ he said
‘Until we fix it, we will not see the number of really innovative treatments – capable of making a big impact on the lives of patients – that we should be expecting.’

The Government said it had already introduced 10 per cent tax relief on research and development expenditure and a further tax breaks for patented inventions and innovations.

George Freeman, Minister for Life Sciences, said: ‘We want to make Britain the best place in the world to design and deliver innovative 21st-century medicines, and to accelerate and support the increasing “stratification” of medicines which cancer has spearheaded.

‘That’s why we are investing £1 billion annually in the National Institute for Health Research NHS infrastructure, launched and committed to expand the early access to medicines scheme, ring-fenced £750 million for cancer research and development over four years and committed an extra £160 million to the cancer drugs fund.’

Written by Ben Spencer, Science Reporter for the Daily Mail, October 24, 2014.

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