Researchers affiliated with the Cancer Center at Illinois discovered a novel small molecule compound that is now the subject of a new global licensing agreement between the pharmaceutical company Bayer AG and the cancer drug development company Systems Oncology LLC.
Systems Oncology originally licensed the IP related to the compound in 2018, and this new deal will now give Bayer the exclusive rights to develop the compound, currently called ERSO, as a cancer therapy. This compound was originally discovered by the laboratories of Paul Hergenrother, a professor of chemistry at the University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign, and U of I biochemistry professor David Shapiro.
Their research was the first to show that the compound can effectively target and kill certain cancer cells, especially breast cancer cells that express the estrogen receptor. An estimated 70% of women diagnosed with breast cancer have ER-positive breast cancer. According to Dr. Hergenrother, these types of breast cancer cells are very sensitive to ERSO, which rapidly and selectively kills these cancer cells.
In 2016, U of I first partnered with Systems Oncology to advance another small molecule invented by Dr. Hergenrother towards the clinic, so when it came to selecting an industry collaborator to drive the development for ERSO, the decision was made in 2018 to partner again with the Systems Oncology team.
CCIL member, Erik Nelson, a professor of molecular and integrative physiology, provided essential guidance to the scientists through their tumor studies. CCIL Research Program Leader, Timothy Fan, a professor of veterinary clinical medicine at Illinois, was their expert in toxicology and pharmacology.
