Matthew Kurian, Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine and Physician at St. Elizabeth Healthcare, shared a post on LinkedIn:
“Three of the biggest names in breast cancer drug development – Novartis, AstraZeneca , and now Genentech – have all partnered with the same discovery company: Astex Pharmaceuticals.
If you haven’t heard of Astex, they are a pioneer in fragment-based drug discovery, a structure-guided approach that has quietly helped shape modern precision oncology.
Astex contributed to the discovery of:
- Ribociclib (Kisqali®) – CDK4/6 inhibitor for HR+/HER2− breast cancer (Novartis)
- Capivasertib (Truqap®) – AKT inhibitor for PI3K/AKT/PTEN-altered HR+/HER2− breast cancer (AstraZeneca)
- Erdafitinib (Balversa®) – FGFR inhibitor for urothelial carcinoma (Janssen)
Their newly announced research collaboration with Genentech to develop a novel cell-cycle therapy for breast cancer reinforces an important point: some of oncology’s biggest breakthroughs begin years before clinical trials – with innovative drug discovery platforms and the science behind the molecule.”
Other articles featuring Matthew Kurian on OncoDaily.