Oncology

Oncology

Oncology drug research and development has advanced dramatically in recent times, and IRBM is proud to have played its part. Two medicines which we helped to develop are now on the market: ZEJULA®, for ovarian cancer, and ZOLINZA®, for a skin-affecting lymphoma.

We are now entering a new and exciting era of drug discovery where the only limit is our imagination. Precision medicines, immune checkpoint inhibitors, cell therapies, protein degraders, antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), peptide therapeutics, and radiotheranostics, are just a few examples of the many drug modalities that have been added to the world’s armoury against cancer. These innovations are transforming the lives of thousands of patients and we, at IRBM, are committed to pave the way to a new wave of cancer therapeutics.

We are proud of our partnerships with world-renowned organisations devoted to cancer patient care including MD Anderson Cancer Center, and to have been selected by the NIH as a member of the NCI Experimental Therapeutics (NExT) Program’s Chemical Biology Consortium to help address unmet needs in therapeutic oncology.

What sets us apart from other CROs is the extensive experience our team of scientists has built across the breadth of oncology drug discovery and translational research, to advance many clinical candidates into oncology trials. This unrivalled background, coupled with our passion to deliver innovative therapies that will treat a wide range of patients including those with rare, and often neglected, cancers, makes us your partner of choice.

We cover the range of oncology drug discovery phases from target validation through to candidate nomination. In the tables below we list a selection of the many capabilities we can apply to oncology programs.

Talk to us to help transform your ideas into the oncology medicines of the future.

IN VITRO 2D AND 3D ASSAYS TO SUPPORT ONCOLOGY PROGRAMS INCLUDE:

  • Cytotoxicity/Proliferation assays
  • Cell cycle and Apoptosis assays
  • Angiogenesis assays
  • Migration and Invasion assays
  • Receptor occupancy and internalization assays
  • Cross competition/Epitope binning assays (HTS mode)
  • IgG binding affinity assays
  • ADCC and CDC assays
  • Ad hoc Functional/Phenotypic readouts
  • Biomarker analysis

CELL CULTURE FORMATS INCLUDE:

  • 2D Stable and Primary cells
  • 3D Spheroids and Organoids
  • Co-cultures
  • IPS-derived cells

FUNCTIONAL PLATFORMS TO SUPPORT ONCOLOGY PROGRAMS INCLUDE:

  • Histopathology and Multiplexed Imaging
  • Multiplexed Flow Cytometry
  • High-Content Imaging and Screening
  • Genome Editing

PLATFORM TECHNIQUES FOR IMMUNO-ONCOLOGY PROJECTS INCLUDE:

  • Cytokine release
  • T Cell activation/proliferation
  • Th Polarization
  • Immuno-checkpoint modulation (SEB-driven T cell Exhaustion)
  • Treg suppression
  • iTreg differentiation
  • CD8 T Cells or NK Cells-mediated tumor killing
  • MDSC (Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cells) suppression
  • Macrophage differentiation and polarization (M1/M2)
  • Macrophage-dependent ADCP

PRE-CLINICAL MODELS AVAILABLE FROM THE IN VIVO PHARMACOLOGY TEAM:

  • PK/PD relationship
  • Efficacy studies
  • Biomarker analysis

Oncology publications

  1. Discovery of a Novel Series of Imidazopyrazine Derivatives as Potent SHP2 Allosteric Inhibitors

Esther Torrente, Valentina Fodale, Alina Ciammaichella, Federica Ferrigno, Jesus M. Ontoria, Simona Ponzi, Ilaria Rossetti, Alessio Sferrazza, Jérôme Amaudrut, Antonino Missineo, Simone Esposito, Simone Palombo, Martina Nibbio, Mauro Cerretani, Monica Bisbocci, Antonella Cellucci, Annalise di Marco, Cristina Alli, Vincenzo Pucci, Carlo Toniatti, and Alessia Petrocchi

ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters 2023 14 (2), 156-162

DOI: 10.1021/acsmedchemlett.2c00454

  1. Discovery and characterization of novel peptide inhibitors of the NRF2/MAFG/DNA ternary complex for the treatment of cancer

Vladimir Simov, Michael D. Altman, Elisabetta Bianchi, Sonia DelRizzo, Edward N. DiNunzio, Guo Feng, Peter Goldenblatt, Raffaele Ingenito, Scott A. Johnson, My Sam Mansueto, Todd Mayhood, Jonathan D. Mortison, Victor Serebrov, Christopher Sondey, Venkat Sriraman, Thomas J. Tucker, Abbas Walji, Hui Wan, Yingzi Yue, Alexander Stoeck, and Erin F. DiMauro

European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry 2021 Nov 15;224:113686.

DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2021.113686

  1. MK-4101, a Potent Inhibitor of the Hedgehog Pathway, Is Highly Active against Medulloblastoma and Basal Cell Carcinoma

Gessica Filocamo, Mirko Brunetti, Fabrizio Colaceci, Romina Sasso, Mirella Tanori, Emanuela Pasquali, Romina Alfonsi, Mariateresa Mancuso, Anna Saran, Armin Lahm, Lucia Di Marcotulli, Christian Steinkühler, and Simonetta Pazzaglia

Molecular Cancer Therapeutics 2016 15 (6), 1177-89

DOI: 10.1158/1535-7163.MCT-15-0371

  1. Niraparib: A Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerase (PARP) Inhibitor for the Treatment of Tumors with Defective Homologous Recombination

Philip Jones, Keith Wilcoxen, Michael Rowley, and Carlo Toniatti

Journal of Medicinal Chemistry 2015 58 (8), 3302-3314

DOI: 10.1021/jm5018237

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