Discovering new drugs to treat cancer has to be one of science’s highest callings. It’s certainly one of the most urgent — and potentially lucrative. More than 400,000 people in the UK receive a cancer diagnosis each year.
However, while an ageing population means more cases than ever before, mortality rates are not rising at the same pace, thanks to the slow but steady flow of novel drugs approved each year. Targeted therapies, which act on cancer cells or the specific proteins that help them grow while sparing the healthy cells, are becoming increasingly popular.
