Addressing the Early-Stage Funding Gap in Pediatric Cancer with $50 Million

C-Further, established by Cancer Research Horizons, LifeArc, and Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity, is investing a total of £37 million, approximately USD 50 million, in research and development for novel pediatric cancer therapies. This initiative aims to support the development of new treatments for pediatric cancers, an area often overlooked by pharmaceutical companies due to the limited patient population and commercial viability. C-Further provides non-dilutive funding and leverages the research capabilities of its partners to support projects from target validation to preclinical candidate selection. GOSH Charity has committed an additional £10 million by 2025, expanding the initial £27 million investment. The focus is on building assets that can be translated into clinical applications, rather than simply distributing research grants.

CF-012 Targets ETV6 Dependence in Ewing Sarcoma

CF-012 is a preclinical code name for a potential first-in-class small molecule therapy that inhibits ETS variant 6 (ETV6). ETV6 is a transcription factor that has been shown to be essential for the growth and metastasis of Ewing sarcoma, a type of cancer that is driven by the EWS-FLI1 fusion oncogene. The current standard of care for Ewing sarcoma is VDC/IE, an alternating regimen of vincristine, doxorubicin, and cyclophosphamide with ifosfamide and etoposide, as well as surgery and radiation therapy. While the five-year survival rate for patients with localized disease is over 70%, the five-year survival rate for patients with recurrent or metastatic disease is less than 30%. CF-012 is in the preclinical candidate selection stage and has not yet been approved by the FDA, EMA, or PMDA, nor has it been reviewed by an AdComm.

CF-033 is an Off-the-Shelf iNKT Cell Therapy Targeting PRAME

CF-033 is another preclinical code name for a therapy developed by MiNK Therapeutics (INKT). It is an allogeneic, invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cell therapy that has been engineered to express a PRAME-specific T cell receptor (TCR). PRAME is a melanoma-associated antigen that is expressed in a variety of cancers, including sarcomas, acute myeloid leukemia, and medulloblastoma. CF-033 is designed to directly recognize PRAME and activate both the innate and adaptive immune systems. C-Further is providing up to USD 1.1 million in non-dilutive, milestone-based funding to support the selection of a clinical candidate and the preparation of an Investigational New Drug (IND) application. MiNK Therapeutics will also receive a double-digit percentage of future commercial revenues. A competing asset is Immatics (IMTX)'s PRAME TCR-T allogeneic cell therapy, anzu-cel and IMA203, which are in Phase 1b and Phase 1 clinical trials, respectively, indicating that it is ahead in clinical validation.

Preclinical Assets are Being Re-evaluated as Strategic Acquisition Targets

The market for Ewing sarcoma treatments is projected to grow from USD 285.13 million in 2024 to USD 452.40 million in 2032, with a compound annual growth rate of 5.94%. However, the limited patient population makes it difficult for large pharmaceutical companies to justify early-stage investments in this area. C-Further is bundling multiple pediatric cancer programs into a single discovery and validation platform to reduce portfolio risk and increase the likelihood of partnering with industry before clinical entry. As a separate example, Novartis (NVS) announced the acquisition of Myricx Bio in July 2026, offering an upfront payment of USD 1.1 billion and potential milestone payments of up to USD 400 million for B7-H3 and HER2 antibody-drug conjugates incorporating N-myristoyltransferase inhibitors (NMTi). The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2026, pending regulatory approval. This is a case study of a spin-out from the CRH group and demonstrates the strategic value of a preclinical platform.