Children's Medical Research Institute spin out company, Tessellate Bio, has partnered with a major pharmaceutical company to develop treatments targeting tumors dependent on Alternative Lengthening of Telomeres (ALT) for their growth.

Some cancers that are particularly difficult to treat and have a poor outcome use ALT to sustain their relentless growth. ALT was first discovered in cancers three decades ago by Children’s Medical Research Institute (CMRI) researchers who have been working towards finding a treatment ever since.

Five years ago, CMRI’s Professor Hilda Pickett co-founded a company, Tessellate Bio, to speed up the development of precision cancer drugs targeting ALT.

It was announced this week that Tessellate Bio has entered into a research collaboration and global license agreement with leading biopharmaceutical company, Boehringer Ingelheim, to jointly develop first-in-class, oral precision treatments to benefit patients with ALT positive cancers.

CMRI’s Director Professor Roger Reddel, who chairs the scientific advisory board of Tessellate Bio, welcomed the collaboration: “Boehringer Ingelheim’s expertise will be critically important for driving this work forward, to ensure treatments for these patients – children and adults – reach the clinic.”

Professor Pickett said the aim is to improve outcomes for patients. “ALT-dependent cancers are notoriously aggressive and hard-to-treat, but as we understand more about these cancers, we have more opportunities to treat them. This partnership will allow new ALT pathway discoveries to progress to targeted treatments, which will ultimately benefit cancer patients.”