Cancer Research UK, the world's leading cancer charity dedicated to saving lives through research, and its commercial arm, Cancer Research Technology (CRT), are to join forces with Astellas Pharma Inc. (Astellas) to find new drug targets in the fight against cancer, with an initial focus on pancreatic cancer.

As part of a new collaboration, Cancer Research UK, CRT and Astellas will conduct a two-year research programme in the UK to find promising new drug targets for pancreatic cancer.

Certain pancreatic cancers are dependent on autophagy, the process of consuming your own cellular parts for energy, in order to grow. Blocking this pathway may help stop some pancreatic cancers.

Under the terms of the deal, the first stage aims to identify and then validate the best possible drug targets to block the autophagy pathway in pancreatic cancer cells. This research will be carried out by Professor Kevin Ryan at the Cancer Research UK Beatson Institute and Dr Sharon Tooze at the Cancer Research UK London Research Institute. Astellas has an exclusive licence to progress the most promising candidates through further drug discovery and development, subject to certain milestone and royalty payments to CRT.

Professor Kevin Ryan, Cancer Research UK scientist based at the Cancer Research UK Beatson Institute, said: "This is an exciting opportunity to develop new drugs for pancreatic cancer where there is an urgent need for new treatments. Research suggests that pancreatic cancer can be dependent on autophagy making it an excellent pathway to target for drug discovery."

Kenji Yasukawa, senior vice president and chief strategy officer, Astellas, said "Since May 2013, Astellas has invited researchers from around the world to collaborate to increase drug discovery opportunities and expand development pipelines. The aim is to establish links with overseas researchers who have ideas that possess a high level of novelty and creativity. This consortium with Cancer Research UK and CRT is one of the collaborations to be achieved through this global initiative."

New treatments are desperately needed for pancreatic cancer one of the deadliest forms of cancer. Every year 8,800 people are diagnosed with the disease in the UK but survival rates remain very low, with only three per cent of people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer surviving their disease for five years or more after their diagnosis.

Dr Keith Blundy, Cancer Research Technology's chief executive officer, said: "In establishing this significant collaboration, the first of its kind between CRT and a Japanese pharmaceutical company, we're bringing together Cancer Research UK's world-leading target validation expertise and Astellas' proven track record on drug development, which we hope will lead to new drugs for pancreatic cancer patients. We're excited to commence this collaboration and look forward to furthering our relationship with Astellas in the future."

Cancer Research Technology Limited (CRT) is a specialist commercialisation and development company, which aims to develop new discoveries in cancer research for the benefit of cancer patients. CRT works closely with leading international cancer scientists and their institutes to protect intellectual property arising from their research and to establish links with commercial partners.

Astellas Pharma Inc., located in Tokyo, Japan, is a pharmaceutical company dedicated to improving the health of people around the world through the provision of innovative and reliable pharmaceuticals.