Our Oncology R&D strategy
Driving innovation and exploring new frontiers to transform cancer outcomes

• Antibody drug conjugates (ADC): These targeted medicines deliver chemotherapy agents to cancer cells with monoclonal antibodies, joined via a chemical linker to cytotoxic drugs. This highly targeted and cell-specific mechanism has the potential to reduce side effects for those being treated with the drug. ¹
• Radioconjugates: This approach delivers the radiation therapy to tumour cells, enabling cancer cells to be destroyed in a more targeted manner than traditional external beam radiation, offering more tailored treatments for patients.
• DNA damage response (DDR): DNA damage is a critical factor in tumour progression and most cancers have a greater dependency on this process. DDR inhibitors block specific components of the DNA damage response pathways in cancer cells, causing cancer cell death while leaving healthy cells intact. ² 
• Tumour drivers and resistance: We are developing therapies that directly target specific mutations and block resistance mechanisms that cause cancer cells to proliferate, with the goal of extending survival by targeting biological pathways and combating cancer as it evolves.
• Epigenetics: Dysregulation of epigenetic processes can result in disease initiation and is a hallmark of cancer. By studying how these epigenetic malfunctions lead to cancer, we can develop therapies to target those changes.^3,4
• Immuno-oncology (IO): We are developing next-generation IO therapies to empower the immune system to more effectively recognise and kill cancer cells and to overcome the immunosuppressive mechanisms that cancers frequently develop as they evolve. We are focusing on novel combinations of IO therapies and designing bispecific antibodies that simultaneously target different immune checkpoints on the same cell.
• Immune engagers: A growing area of interest are T-cell engagers which redirect the immune system's T-cells to recognise and kill cancer cells, thereby amplifying a patient’s own anti-cancer immune response.⁵
• Cell therapy: We are building a pipeline of next-generation cell therapies that are designed to overcome current barriers to the widespread adoption of cell therapies for both solid and haematological tumours, such as challenges in scalability and accessibility. With our acquisition of Neogene therapeutics, we are expanding into T-cell receptor therapies (TCR-T), unlocking new space in cancer biology by targeting intracellular targets.⁶

Real potential is in combinations of cancer therapies for deeper, more durable responses

We believe that real potential is in the combination of treatments, attacking cancer cells from multiple angles. The breadth and depth of our portfolio allows us to trial many of these combinations to achieve a more durable, deeper response as we strive towards our ambition of transforming cancer outcomes and increasing the chance of cures. 

We are working towards a future where conventional chemotherapy and radiotherapy are replaced with targeted combinations of ADCs, molecularly targeted therapies, and immunotherapies. 

For example, combining ADCs that directly kill cancer cells with immunotherapies that drive the patient’s own immune response and support the tissue microenvironment to eradicate the tumour, may help drive stronger and more durable patient responses. We are also exploring the potential for maximising DNA damage induced cancer cell death by combining ADCs with DDR inhibitors.
 

Treating cancer earlier and smarter
 

We are exploring the use of circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA), to detect cancer, choose the right treatments for patients and to determine just how effective treatment is.

We have a collaboration with the company GRAIL to develop blood-based companion diagnostics for early-stage cancer. Through this collaboration, we will leverage GRAIL’s multi-cancer early detection test to recruit patients onto clinical trials for the investigation of our cancer treatments in early cancer. The test not only includes the potential to detect cancers with limited screening options at present but also importantly tells you which tissues they come from.⁷
 

Leading with transformational technologies
 

Data and AI

With the right data at our fingertips, we can transform cancer drug discovery and development to get new treatments to patients faster. Data and AI are embedded across all of our R&D activities, from identification of new targets for novel cancer medicines, predicting which molecules to make, better predicting clinical success, informing, and speeding up clinical trial recruitment. Data and AI is enabling us to harness new technology, automate processes and push the boundaries of science to accelerate innovation and the delivery of life-changing medicines.

Computational pathology

Computational pathology is the integration of machine learning and digital imaging with traditional pathology techniques as next generation diagnostics. Advances in data science and computing now allow us to integrate data from immunohistochemically stained cancer tissue images with genomic, radiological, clinical, and other data, applying deep learning algorithms to gain novel insights. 

Quantitative Continuous Scoring (QCS) is our novel, fully automated computational pathology solution that not only looks for the presence or absence of a biomarker but also quantifies the intensity of staining and its location in sub-cellular compartments. Right now, we’re pioneering the use of QCS within our clinical trial portfolio, with regulatory approval as a first-in-class AI-driven diagnostic as a future goal.

Digital health

The digital capabilities we are embedding across our R&D are essential to creating a seamless connectivity between people and data. Our ambition is to reimagine healthcare – transforming patients’ healthcare journeys to improve earlier diagnosis, more precision treatments and proactive digital monitoring for better outcomes, powered by digital, longitudinal data and AI, through the recent launch of Evinova, our global health-tech business we’re even closer to this ambition.

We are continuing to research, create and deliver digital health solutions, via Evinova, that are science-based, evidence-led, and human experience-driven. Deliberately designed so that everyone can reach better health outcomes together.

The future of oncology R&D

It is the combination of all these elements that we believe sets us up for future success. By combining these innovations, we will hopefully transform outcomes and survival for cancer patients.