C-Further to advance its first two bespoke paediatric cancer therapeutics in collaboration with leading global academic and industry investigators
Selected programmes to potentially address multiple children’s cancers including Ewing sarcoma, bone sarcoma, medulloblastoma and acute myeloid leukaemia
Additional C-Further programmes to be announced in 2026
C-Further, an international consortium committed to creating new therapeutics for childhood cancers, today unveils the first early-stage therapeutic programmes for its pipeline, dedicated to paediatric oncology indications. Through its collaborative model, C-Further has partnered with investigators at UVA Comprehensive Cancer Center, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Mass General Brigham to advance CF-012 for the potential treatment of Ewing sarcoma. In parallel, the consortium has partnered with investigators at MiNK Therapeutics (Nasdaq: INKT) to advance CF-033, leveraging MiNK’s proprietary platform with translational support by investigators at the University of Southampton, for the potential treatment of multiple children’s cancers, including bone sarcoma, medulloblastoma and acute myeloid leukaemia.
Enabled by C-Further’s core partners, Cancer Research Horizons, LifeArc and Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity (GOSH Charity), the consortium will support the progression of CF-012 and CF-033 up to preclinical candidate nomination, subject to completion of scientific milestones. Together, these projects form the foundation of C-Further’s expanding pipeline which is supported by an initial $40m (£30m) budget.
Lone Friis, PhD, C-Further Programme Co-lead said: “By combining the pioneering approaches of our scientific collaborators with industry-standard drug discovery capabilities, expertise of our core partners and reach into critical paediatric-focused networks, C-Further is advancing a pipeline of potential first-in-class therapies for childhood cancers. Guided by an indication-agnostic but child-first approach, we believe the initial CF-012 and CF-033 programmes have the potential to address a profound unmet need across multiple children’s cancers.”
The selected research partners represent top academic and industry investigators from across the globe, underscoring the international reach and ambition of C-Further.
- CF-012 targets ETV6, a newly identified and critical transcriptional dependency that is essential for tumour growth and metastasis. The aim is to develop a potential first-in-class inhibitor with a precise mechanism to disrupt tumour growth and metastasis in young patients.
John Bushweller, PhD, Professor at the University of Virginia School of Medicine and a member of UVA Comprehensive Cancer Center, investigator for CF-012, said: “We’re excited to partner with C-Further to progress CF-012. Children and young people have historically lacked effective, targeted cancer treatments and CF-012 has the potential to address an urgent unmet need in relapsed and metastatic Ewing sarcoma – a rare, aggressive bone tumour that most commonly occurs in young people. With C-Further’s collaborative, child-first drug discovery model, we believe we have the power to bring these medicines to market.”
Other key investigators for the CF-012 therapeutic programme include Kimberly Stegmaier, MD, Chair of the Department of Pediatric Oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Miguel Rivera, MD, Assistant Molecular Pathologist at Massachusetts General Hospital. - CF-033 is a potential first-in-class allogeneic iNKT cell therapy engineered with a specific T-cell receptor targeting PRAME, which bridges innate and adaptive immunity and is designed to enable both direct tumour cell killing and broader immune activation within the tumour microenvironment. As an allogeneic, off-the-shelf approach without the need for toxic lymphodepletion, CF-033 has the potential to support more timely treatment delivery and improved tolerability, which are important considerations in paediatric oncology, where new therapeutic approaches are urgently needed.
Marco Purbhoo, PhD, Head of Translational Medicine at MiNK Therapeutics, investigator for CF-033, said: “CF-033 is a PRAME-targeted invariant NKT (iNKT) cell therapy developed to address the urgent needs of children with high-risk cancers, which are often marked by treatment resistance and a weakened immune response that cannot sustain tumour control. Unlike conventional CAR-T or TCR-T therapies, CF-033 harnesses the unique biology of iNKT cells — immune cells that can both directly kill cancer and help coordinate a broader, longer-lasting anti-tumour response. Importantly, this approach is designed to be delivered without the need for HLA matching or toxic lymphodepletion, which is particularly meaningful for this vulnerable paediatric population.”
Ali Roghanian, PhD, Associate Professor at the University of Southampton, is the other key investigator leading the CF-033 therapeutic programme.
C‑Further welcomes expressions of interest from researchers, innovators and partners who share its mission to accelerate new tailored and well-tolerated treatments for children and young people with cancer. The deadline to be considered for the next round of submissions is 13 March 2026.
C-Further has also commenced preliminary research on a third, undisclosed project. Additional programmes are expected to be announced in 2026.
To learn more about ongoing work or to explore partnering opportunities, visit the C-Further website.
