A DRUG which it is hoped will be able to treat a range of cancers has been released, to mark the opening of a new medicine manufacturing centre on the edges of Times Territory.

The antibody, christened Chi Lob 7/4, is the first product to be made at Cancer Research UK’s new �18 million Biotherapeutics Development Unit (BDU), based at the charity’s Clare Hall site in Blanche Lane, South Mimms.

Scientists hope that the drug, which has been designed to supercharge the body’s immune system to fight cancer, will now prove successful in clinical trials.

Heike Lentfer, head of the BDU, said: “We are very excited about the opening of the new unit.

“It provides us with the infrastructure to bolster our drug manufacturing capabilities, enabling our scientists to translate their findings from the laboratory into trials of new treatments in the clinic.

“It’s a real boost being able to make the products that our scientists need for life-saving research into cancer – it is more cost effective and efficient, allowing us to work in a more innovative way to find exciting new treatments to beat cancer.”

Professor Peter Johnson, Cancer Research UK’s chief clinician, added: “Having experimental medicines readily available from our own medicine manufacturing centre will be an enormous boost to clinical trials.

“It’s great news for our doctors to hear that we will be able to have the drugs made quickly and more cheaply, speeding up the all important process of taking discoveries from the lab to the bedside, providing hope for thousands of patients in the future.”

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