Cyclacel to speed up Altana drug development

Under the terms of the agreement, Altana Pharma will supply Cyclacel with selected experimental molecules shown to interfere with mitosis (cell division).

Scientists at Cyclacel’s Polgen Division in Cambridge, UK, where the work will be undertaken, will apply their knowledge of mitosis biology combined with Cyclacel’s Drosophila RNA interference library to identify the targets of the Altana Pharma molecules.

Knowledge of the drug targets will enable Altana Pharma to accelerate the development of drug candidates.

Cyclacel scientists have built up extensive and proprietary knowledge of the changes induced in cancer cells or their phenotype following inhibition of hundreds of mitosis targets.

“Altana Pharma scientists have discovered compounds that are very active in blocking cells in mitosis and seem to have novel mechanisms of action,” said Professor David Glover, chief scientist of Cyclacel’s Polgen division.

“Using our Drosophila RNAi technology we are able to identify patterns of changes seen in cells after interfering with individual proteins. Our technology enables us to compare these patterns with changes caused by drugs active in mitosis, such as the Altana Pharma compounds, and in this way identify the drugs’ mechanism of action or how they affect cancer cells,” he continued.