Cancer is still the leading cause of death by disease in children and young people — yet in the last twenty years, only a handful of drugs have been approved specifically to treat it. Most paediatric cancer treatments are simply adult drugs, repurposed, often at real long-term cost to the children who survive. Today's guest is working to change that, and much more besides. 

Tony Hickson is Chief Business Officer for Cancer Research Horizons, Cancer Research UK's innovation engine, responsible for turning early-stage science into new treatments, diagnostics, and start-up companies. Tony's career spans big pharma, university tech transfer, and now the translational front line of cancer research, and he's helped build dozens of spinouts along the way. We'll talk about why charity and pharma need each other more than ever, and about C-Further, a bold new push to finally build medicines made for children, not borrowed from adults.

• 01:25 Meet Tony Hickson
• 05:21 What sets Cancer Research Horizons apart from tech transfer offices
• 12:17 Myrix Bio's exit to Novartis, a standout story
• 15:54 Can patient benefit and commercial success align
• 28:53 Inside C-Further's first two therapeutic programs
• 41:19 How researchers and partners can get involved

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To dive deeper into the topic: 

• Episode 32: Cancer Research Horizons, Enterome, OncoHost, TrakCel, Turbine
• Cancer Research UK Deploys €700M to Foster Oncology Startups
• Cancer vaccines: 11 biotechs to keep an eye out for