Commendation in Edinburgh BioQuarter Innovation Competition

PhD Student Craig Fraser awarded a Commendation in the 2014 Edinburgh BioQuarter Innovation Competition: June 2014

PhD Student Craig Fraser, from the Edinburgh Cancer Research Centre within the MRC Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine at the University of Edinburgh, was awarded a Commendation in the 2014 Edinburgh BioQuarter Innovation Competition for his “Kinase Inhibitors for Targeted Breast Cancer” project.

The project has discovered unique drugs which are efficient at killing breast cancer cells and are specifically potent towards a type of cancer known as triple negative breast cancer (TNBC). The drugs have been designed so they can be taken orally instead of IV injection, as current standards require, reducing the time spent in hospitals for patients and removing the inconvenience of having an IV drip. Due to the specificity of these drugs towards certain proteins in cancer, it is hoped that they will target cancerous cells only and reduce the nasty side effects associated with current therapies.

The Edinburgh BioQuarter Innovation Competition encourages entrants to share their ideas for the improvement of human or animal health. The top five entries – including Craig’s - were selected by a panel of experts from BioQuarter and sponsors and received their prizes at an awards ceremony on 11th June.

Dr Mike Capaldi, Commercialisation Director of the Edinburgh BioQuarter, said: “This is the fourth year that Edinburgh BioQuarter has run the competition and we continue to be impressed by the number of ideas and the level of innovation shown by all entrants. This year’s calibre of entries has been very high.”

Winning entries not only received prize money and support from the BioQuarter Commercialisation Team, but also expert advice from the sponsors on intellectual property (Marks & Clerk), company growth (MBM Commercial) and taxation and finance (Springfords).