New oncology firm, Celleron, founded in UK

Celleron Therapeutics, a new health care company focused on the development of targeted cancer medicines, has been founded in Oxford, UK.

The firm claims two novel oncology programs at the clinical stage, a preclinical pipeline and a proprietary targeting biomarker platform, known as CancerNav. The firm reports the software predicts tumor sensitivity to new and existing therapies.

The company's clinical portfolio is led by CT100, a series of compounds derived from quercetin, a natural product found in foodstuffs, such as onions, red wine and tea. Celleron claims that whilst the compound has been widely espoused as an oncology wonder drug, there is little proof of efficacy behind currently-marketed products. The firm hopes its CT101 product will be the first quercetin-based product with a proven action, and will be viable to treat ovarian, lung, prostate, breast and hepatocellular cancers.