Dr Jon Wilkinson:

My academic background is in microbiology and developmental genetics. Throughout my career, I have gained over two decades of experience in technology transfer and healthcare innovation with a focus on identifying, protecting, and commercialising opportunities in the healthcare sector. In my current role, I oversee a large portfolio of commercial collaborations aimed at turning cancer research discoveries into real-world treatments, as well as managing our partnerships with other academic institutes.

One of the projects I am currently working on is The London Cancer Hub, an initiative designed to attract life sciences companies with an oncology focus to a new life sciences development in Sutton, south London. The project itself is a huge collaboration across industry, academia, and the NHS, as we are working with organisations like Aviva, Socius, and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust to deliver the project.

In terms of the bigger picture from across the industry, there has been a noticeable shift in where early-stage drug development research is coming from. Historically, research and early-stage drug development were done internally by big pharma. Whereas now, I would say that biotech and academic institutions are increasingly driving that early-stage drug development of new assets. These assets are then in-licensed or acquired by big pharma and go on to be the source of new treatments.

In terms of specific drug development trends, we are currently seeing a lot of interest in areas such as small-molecule drug discovery, as well as novel targets in immuno-oncology, and vaccines.

Finally, despite the ongoing funding challenges and current macro-economic climate, we are still seeing some major investments and high-value collaborations within the sector in the UK, which is positive. Recent announcements from biotech and pharma companies have seen big commitments into new UK headquarters as part of a move towards growing and developing innovation clusters, which are often set up around leading academic centres like London, Cambridge, and Oxford.

We typically collaborate with around 100 companies at any one time, spanning from start-ups and spinouts, through to mid-size companies and big pharma, including a long-standing drug discovery alliance we have with MSD (known as Merck in the US). We also partner with the Royal Marsden Hospital to run clinical trials for companies, such as CellCentric, Crescendo, and Avacta.

Our partnerships are really valuable to us and have delivered some outcomes the ICR is proud of, including the recent regulatory approvals of AstraZeneca’s capivasertib, Roche’s Inavolisib, and Verastem Oncology’s novel combination of avutometinib and defactinib; as well as promising clinical developments through partnerships with Nuvectis and Ellipses Pharma. Finally, another one to highlight would be our new partnerships with QBiotics, in immuno-oncology, and the UK-based Revolver Therapeutics, which we are working with on the discovery of potential treatments for the rare childhood cancer Diffuse Midline Glioma.

These achievements would not have been possible without partnering with organisations and stakeholders across academia, industry, and the NHS, highlighting the UK’s existing strength within oncology. I firmly believe that the UK has a strong culture of collaboration, which is only growing as companies are increasingly partnering and locating alongside academics. When academia, industry, and the NHS align, it accelerates the journey from lab bench to bedside and fosters faster innovation, leading to tangible benefits for cancer patients.

I am particularly excited about the rise of innovation clusters across the UK, particularly in London, where companies, academics, and NHS institutions are working together in collaboration. We are also seeing clusters themselves partner and collaborate, and I think the potential of these clusters in breaking down the barriers to innovation is going to be really important. At the ICR, we are currently involved in developing a cluster at the London Cancer Hub, and I am looking forward to seeing the new and innovative collaborations and partnerships that are created through the development.

The UK has an incredibly strong research base with some of the world’s top universities and research institutions, which is a major pull for international life sciences. In London in particular, there is a high concentration of these institutions, such as Imperial College London, University College London, Kings College London, the Francis Crick Institute, and several others, which often have affiliations with the NHS, allowing for seamless clinical translation.

The UK is also Europe’s top location for raising capital in life sciences, thanks in part to the City of London. The life sciences industry is recognised and supported by government, and we were very pleased to see that life sciences was placed at the forefront of the new London Growth Plan, which actually named the London Cancer Hub as a key district for frontier innovation and economic growth in London.

Whilst the UK ecosystem is already well-integrated, retaining companies during the scale-up phase is a major hurdle. Many firms leave the UK once they reach a certain size, and there have been a limited number of UK life sciences IPOs in recent years.

With small to mid-size biotech and pharma becoming an increasingly important part of the ecosystem, we need to ensure that smaller biotech companies are incentivised to stay in the UK. One thing The London Cancer Hub project is looking to offer is access to excellent scientific facilities and high-quality scientific equipment, which is crucial for companies at the scale-up stage.

Industry partnerships are essential for translating research into effective treatments, and each part of the ecosystem – academic, clinical, and commercial – has a role to play. When they are able to work together effectively, it leads to faster, more effective innovation that ultimately delivers improved outcomes for cancer patients.

By leveraging partnerships across industry and academia to build further collaboration, the UK will be able to strengthen its oncology ecosystem, drive forward cancer research and translate discoveries into real-world treatments. The strength of the UK’s research base and the emergence of innovation clusters point toward an even more connected future. For the ICR, the value of collaboration is already clear, and the opportunity to deepen these partnerships in the years ahead is both necessary and incredibly exciting.