Cancer Research UK has announced the formation of a partnership with SV Health Investors in life sciences investment fund, to help accelerate development of cancer medicines.

The partnership between the two is being dubbed a “Major opportunity to progress charity’s research and translate scientific breakthroughs into new cancer medicines for patients”, as they plan to identify research within the charity’s network that could be rapidly developed.

The collaboration is being backed by a $25 million investment by Cancer Research UK into SV’s seventh biotech-focused venture capital fund, SV7 Impact Medicine Fund (the Fund), which is expected to raise as much as $250 million.

Michelle Mitchell, Cancer Research UK’s chief executive, said that the strength of the charity’s science portfolio is “unrivalled”, but “only through working in partnership can we achieve the greatest impact. This partnership is a huge opportunity to accelerate our research and support the successful development of the much-needed treatments for people with cancer.”

The partnership aims to complement the charity’s existing paths to commercialisation, which include research alliances with other scientific institutions, building spin-outs and licensing agreements with pharmaceutical companies.

Under the terms of the deal Cancer Research UK will collaborate closely with SV to identify promising, novel research from within the charity’s network that could be rapidly developed and scaled by securing external investment.