Innovate UK gives grant to MISSION Therapeutics for DUB cancer program

The company will use the grant to discover preclinical DUB inhibitors directed at specific deubiquitylating enzymes (DUBs), which are involved in several cellular processes, including DNA damage and cell proliferation.

MISSION Therapeutics said the inhibition of these enzymes has the potential to develop novel drugs for treating cancer and other unmet medical requirements.

The funding was awarded from the eighth round of the Biomedical Catalyst (BMC), a joint program run by the Medical Research Council and the UK Gvernment’s innovation experts: Innovate UK (IUK).

Innovate UK program supports UK academics and small to medium-sized businesses that plan to take their research from discovery to commercialization.

MISSION Therapeutics CEO Anker Lundemose said: "This funding support from Innovate UK is further validation of our DUB technology platform and science. It will help us develop our pipeline and establish MISSION Therapeutics as a World-leader in the DUB field.

"More importantly, it will enable us to expand our search for new solutions to treat life-threatening diseases such as cancer."

The company is seeking industry partnerships for mutual licensing opportunities for its DUB targets and/or its DUB drug discovery platform, DUB-Sphere.

MISSION Therapeutics plans to collaborate with the pharmaceutical and academic communities in drug discovery processes.