Cancer is responsible for an estimated 9.6 million deaths in 2018. Globally, 1 out of 6 deaths is caused by cancer. Side effects of chemotherapy decrease the quality of life for cancer patients, leading to limitation of chemotherapy dose to fight against cancer. RS Research is a VC-backed academic spin-off in phase-I clinical development of the lead candidate developed based on a highly flexible nanomedicine platform with reduced side effects and enhanced efficacy for cancer chemotherapy. A targeted smart chemotherapy technology has been developed - a novel drug delivery platform that carries the cytotoxic until it reaches the tumor. Based on this patented solid tumors targeting platform, the leading candidate in phase-I clinical trial and 4 additional candidates in the pipeline, demonstrate improved pharmacokinetic properties and efficacy, with better toxicity profile than current medications in the clinic. Although RS Research has vast experience in drug discovery thanks to its academic background; the lack of know-how in early stage clinical development was a question in minds.

Simbec-Orion was created in 2014 by the merger of two very experienced CROs: Simbec Research, a specialist CRO in Early Stage Clinical Development and Orion Clinical, the specialist CRO in Late Stage Clinical Development to create an international, full service, boutique CRO. The core expertise is in clinical pharmacology, oncology, rare diseases and areas of unmet medical need. The CRO has already delivered studies including > 5,200 patients in the last 5 years alone with 350 employees delivering international clinical trials across 4 continents in over 35 countries from supporting clinical development plans from Phase I-IV.

At the end of a series of fruitful meetings, the cooperation between RS Research and Simbec-Orion has been initiated contractually. The very first clinical trial of RS Research, which is also the first in many fields in Turkey, will be backed by the experience of Simbec-Orion. Sharing a common goal, to improve patients’ lives, the result of this cooperation will be a very reliable supporter for RS Research as well as a very good opportunity for Simbec-Orion as a market pioneer.