Prof. Herbie Newell recipient of Malcolm Campbell Memorial Prize 2019

Professor Herbie Newell, Emeritus Professor of Cancer Therapeutics and a founder of Newcastle Drug Discovery, was named as a recipient of the Malcolm Campbell Memorial Prize 2019. The prize, shared between Herbie (NICR), Dr. Christopher Murray (Astex Pharmaceuticals), and Dr Patrick Angibaud (Janssen-Cilag) as representatives of their respective teams, recognises their discovery and development of erdafitinib, a novel and selective pan-FGFR inhibitor that has great potential in the treatment of metastatic urothelial cancer.

Metastatic bladder cancer patients have a poor prognosis, with up to 20% exhibiting alterations in FGFR. Through collaboration with Astex Pharmaceuticals, the team at the NICR (then led by Professors Herbie Newell and Julie Irving and Astex) identified early FGFR inhibitors using a fragment-based approach. Optimization and clinical development in collaboration between Astex and Janssen led to erdafitinib, which in March 2018 was given Breakthrough Therapy Designation by the FDA for the treatment of metastatic urothelial cancer. In September 2018, Janssen submitted a New Drug Application to the FDA seeking approval. The Phase 2 study in this patient population showed an overall response rate of 42% for patients whose tumours harboured actionable FGFR alterations.

The prize will be presented formally during the 20th RSC / SCI Medicinal Chemistry Symposium to be held at Churchill College in Cambridge on 8th – 11th September 2019. To read more about the RSC and the Malcolm Campbell Memorial Prize, of which another member of our drug discovery team Professor Mike Waring is also a recipient, click here.

Last modified: Wed, 05 Feb 2020 13:13:51 GMT