Cancer Research UK reports ‘most successful financial year’ for its spinouts

Cancer Research UK (CRUK) has reported record levels of investment for its spinout portfolio, with the ‘most successful financial year’ recorded to date.

According to the charity’s commercial partnerships annual review, the amount of investment raised by its spinouts more than doubled in the last year, jumping from £400m (2019/20) to £822m (2020/21).

This means, to date, the total investments in CRUK’s spinouts comes to £2.3bn, with the total number of spinouts created to over 60.

In a statement, CRUK said notable investments during this financial year included ADC Therapeutics, Monte Rosa Therapeutics, Autolus Therapeutics and Achilles Therapeutics.

The charity also revealed that two of its spinouts were able to close their Initial Public Offering (IPO) this year, with Achilles Therapeutics closing its IPO at $175.5m on NASDAQ and ADC Therapeutics closing its IPO at over $267.6m on the New York Stock Exchange.

CRUK also reported that £36.4m of the revenue generated from its combined commercial partnership activities was funnelled directly back into cancer research.

“Despite an incredibly difficult year, we’ve shown the power of bringing researchers from academia and industry together in partnerships that will change human health for the better. Our world class research, funded by the British public, is getting picked up by companies that develop tomorrow’s cancer treatments,” said Iain Foulkes, chief executive officer of cancer research technology and executive director of research and innovation at CRUK.

“These spinouts secure funding from investors around the world who believe in our science and the power of partnership. We are more committed than ever to bring those life-saving discoveries out of the lab and translate them into patient benefit,” he added.