4D pharma launches cancer programme after promising research

DRUG discovery firm 4D pharma, the Manchester company which develops live biotheraputic treatments, says it has identified a potentially hugely significant treatment for cancer.

The AIM-listed company, which has really caught the imagination of investors since listing in early 2014, said in a research update that its MicroRx platform had been focused on oncology for the last six months.

During early-stage research, the company said it has “identified an orally administered live biotherapeutic candidate that has shown efficacy in pre-clinical models of breast and lung cancers.”

It added: “Encouragingly, the efficacy demonstrated in these pre-clinical models is comparable to checkpoint inhibitors, a market the pharmaceutical industry expects to exceed $25bn in the next decade.”

4D said it will now accelerate its cancer programme further towards clinical trials, with an aim of having it ready for testing in patients in 12 months. It will also be targeting the MicroRx platform towards other cancers.  

Chairman Dave Norwood said: “We believe the work we have completed over the last six months may open the way for the development of a completely new class of cancer therapeutics.  

“As we have demonstrated elsewhere in our pipeline, 4D is not only world leading in the discovery of novel live biotherapeutics, it also sets a new benchmark in the rapid development and clinical testing of new therapeutics.  If, as we believe, we can demonstrate a favourable safety and efficacy profile, the work 4D has achieved could be a significant step forward in the treatment of cancer.”