LONDON, CAMBRIDGE, England & CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Bicycle Therapeutics, a biotechnology company pioneering a new class of therapeutics based on its proprietary bicyclic peptide (Bicycle®) product platform, and Cancer Research UK, the world’s largest cancer charity, today announced that their collaboration has secured a prestigious Scrip Award, winning 2017’s Best Partnership Alliance.

Bicycle is partnering with Cancer Research UK to develop its lead candidate, BT1718, in patients with advanced poorly treated cancers. BT1718 targets Membrane Type 1 Matrix Metalloproteinase (MT1-MTP), which is highly expressed in many solid tumors, including triple negative breast cancer and non-small cell lung cancer. The program will enter the clinic in early 2018.

Dr. Nigel Blackburn, Cancer Research UK’s director of drug development, said: “We’re thrilled to be recognized for our valuable strategic partnership with Bicycle Therapeutics. Our collaborative partnerships with industry help bring the most promising new treatments to patients and BT1718 is a potentially transformative drug that could be used to tackle many different cancers.

“Finding new ways to target hard to treat cancers is a crucially important area of research and through this collaboration, we hope we can speed up the development of therapies for patients who urgently need new treatment options.”

Kevin Lee, Ph.D., Bicycle’s Chief Executive Officer, said: “We are delighted to receive this prestigious award, which highlights the genuinely collaborative nature of our work with Cancer Research UK. This innovative alliance provides us with an optimal approach for exploring the potential of the Bicycle platform, and we look forward to continuing our work as we move BT1718 into clinical development in 2018.”

Also at the Scrip Awards, Dr. Lee was honored as “Executive of the Year for companies valued below $1 billion” for his dynamic leadership in guiding Bicycle towards the achievement of multiple milestones, including the signing of several important partnerships and a £45 million Series B financing.

About Bicycle Therapeutics
Bicycle Therapeutics is developing a unique class of chemically synthesized medicines based on its proprietary bicyclic peptide (Bicycle®) product platform to address therapeutic needs unreachable with existing treatment modalities. Bicycle’s internal focus is in oncology, where the company is developing targeted cytotoxics (Bicycle Toxin Conjugates), targeted innate immune activators and T-cell modulators for cancers of high unmet medical need. Bicycles’ small size and exquisite targeting delivers rapid tumor penetration and retention while clearance rates and routes can be tuned to minimize exposure of healthy tissue and bystander toxicities. The company’s lead program, BT718, is rapidly advancing towards the clinic in collaboration with Cancer Research, UK. The company’s unique intellectual property is based on the work initiated at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, U.K., by the scientific founders of the company, Sir Gregory Winter and Professor Christian Heinis. Bicycle has its headquarters in Cambridge, U.K., with many key functions and members of its leadership team located in the biotech hub of Boston, Mass. For more information, visit www.bicycletherapeutics.com or follow us on Twitter at @Bicycle_tx.

About Cancer Research UK

• Cancer Research UK is the world’s leading cancer charity dedicated to saving lives through research.
• Cancer Research UK’s pioneering work into the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer has helped save millions of lives.
• Cancer Research UK receives no funding from the UK government for its life-saving research. Every step it makes towards beating cancer relies on vital donations from the public.
• Cancer Research UK has been at the heart of the progress that has already seen survival in the UK double in the last 40 years.
• Today, 2 in 4 people survive their cancer for at least 10 years. Cancer Research UK’s ambition is to accelerate progress so that by 2034, 3 in 4 people will survive their cancer for at least 10 years.
• Cancer Research UK supports research into all aspects of cancer through the work of over 4,000 scientists, doctors and nurses.
• Together with its partners and supporters, Cancer Research UK's vision is to bring forward the day when all cancers are cured.

For further information about Cancer Research UK's work or to find out how to support the charity, please call 0300 123 1022 or visit www.cancerresearchuk.org. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.