Cambridge Cognition wins £2m cancer therapy trial contract

Brain health assessment specialist Cambridge Cognition has secured a £2m contract for a significant cancer therapy trial, it announced on Tuesday.

The AIM-traded company's proprietary cognitive assessments, known as ‘CANTAB’, would be used as an exploratory endpoint in the trial, with revenue from the contract expected to be recognised over the course of the next five years.

It said the contract came at a time when regulatory approvals for oncology drugs had seen a notable increase.

Cambridge Cognition explained that over the last decade, there had been a near-threefold rise in regulatory approvals for oncology drugs, with the number of approvals escalating from 16 in 2013 to 43 in 2022.

That surge in approvals had prompted pharmaceutical companies to invest significantly in distinguishing their new therapies, particularly by addressing adverse effects that could impact patients' cognitive functions following treatments such as chemotherapy.

Studies had shown that around 30% of patients experience cognitive decline, which primarily manifests as attention deficits, memory impairment, and challenges in executive function.

CANTAB, developed by Cambridge Cognition, was designed to measure the specific cognitive processes affected by cancer-related cognitive decline.

Cambridge Cognition said its success in securing the contract could be attributed to its robust assessments, as well as to its delivery platform, which had demonstrated successful deployment on a global scale.

Additionally, the company's experienced clinical project management team would support the implementation of CANTAB across 70 trial sites in nine countries and 11 languages, ensuring accurate cognition assessment throughout the trial.

“Advances in cancer treatment have led to increased consideration for limiting the side-effects that impact patients' quality of life,” said chief executive officer Matthew Stork.

“Reducing cognitive impairment could have a major impact on patients' lives.”

Stork said the company was “pleased” to be working with a major pharmaceutical company to support their development programme.

“With significant investment being made in cancer trials by the world's leading pharmaceutical companies, we expect that this could become a considerable growth area for Cambridge Cognition in the future.”

At 1417 BST, shares in Cambridge Cognition Holdings were up 2.87% at 101.84p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.