Biopsy company Angle has signed a supplier agreement with Astrazenaca to develop technology able to detect, target and kill cancer cells.
The targeted approach is more good news for cancer research – in February, Astrazenaca announced a new drug showing ‘highly impactful’ results in a lung cancer trial.
Under the agreement, Angle will develop a novel technology for cancer detection using DNA damage response (DDR) tests.
In 2022, the DDR therapeutics market was estimated at £4.75bn. It is projected to reach £8.37bn by 2031 with a compound annual growth rate of 6.5%, according to TMR.
This is expected to be driven by an increase in the use of combination therapy to treat drug-resistant cancers and the need for novel targeted medicines.
Angle said its technology has the potential to be used as a repeatable, minimally invasive way to start to target tumours in the body. Using DDR technology alongside cancer drugs helps to maximise DNA damage and to selectively kill cancer cells. Angle is one of the leading providers in this market.
The development will take place in Angle laboratories in Guildford, UK.
This is Angle’s second large pharma company agreement of 2024 as it “look[s] to drive a significant expansion of the pharma services business”, Angle Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Newland, said.
“Angle is also working to expand… with other large pharma customers and continues to generate significant new customer interest through its business development activity,” Newland added.
Angle Chief Scientific Officer, Karen Miller, said: “We are delighted that our expertise… continues to make great strides.
With the increasing investigation of DNA damage response / PARP inhibitors, alone or in combination with chemotherapy or immunotherapy, there is a need for minimally invasive, robust and repeatable DDR assays [tests]. All the development work continues to add to the menu of [technologies] owned by ANGLE that we can offer to other customers.”
