Cresset Discovery Services, a provider of contract research services for early phase drug discovery, has announced it will collaborate with the University of Newcastle, Australia to focus on drug reprofiling against oncology targets.
The work will build on research led by award-winning molecular biologist, Associate Professor Nikola Bowden. Nikola is co-Director of the Centre for Drug Repurposing and Medicines Research and leads the DNA repair group.
Associate professor Nikola Bowden comments: ‘Using existing drugs as a starting point for new therapies can provide patients with access to critical treatment in a quick and cost-effective manner. We’re looking forward to engaging the in silico solutions and drug discovery expertise offered by Cresset to advance our research in this area.’
The overall aim of her research is to deliver personalised diagnosis and treatment to cancer patients, with a focus on DNA repair and drug repurposing in melanoma and ovarian cancer.
Repurposing existing drugs offers a promising solution to cancer patients in need of more immediate treatment. Having prior knowledge of a drug’s safety, dosing and side effects can significantly shorten research and development timelines.
Dr Martin Slater, director of consulting services at Cresset Discovery Services added: ‘We’re excited to collaborate with Nikola and her team on this project. The intelligent computational approaches that we specialise in are ideally placed to identify which existing drugs are viable against new targets.’
