Preclinical Oncology Services Limited (PRECOS), the oncology-focused research and development provider spun out from the University of Nottingham in the UK, has signed a partnership agreement with Swiss non-profit organisation Reliable Cancer Therapies (RCT) under which PRECOS will validate existing data on complementary cancer therapies.

PRECOS, which specialises in the preclinical efficacy assessment of promising cancer treatments, will provide drug efficacy services to support RCT’s research on complementary medicines. RCT funds the clinical development of potential therapies and agents that fall outside the boundaries of established clinical research in oncology.

The UK company will use its expertise in patient-relevant cancer models, including in vitro 2D and 3D assays, in vivo therapeutic evaluations and post-study analyses, to validate existing RCT data on herbal extracts and other complementary medicines and to underpin evidence-based treatment choices by patients and healthcare professionals.

“There is a need for reliable data on non-conventional cancer treatments,” commented RCT founder Luc Verelst. “The majority of the research conducted to date is not sufficiently scientifically or statistically rigorous to prove the benefits of these therapies.”

As PRECOS chairman Dr Neil, Rotherham noted, the company’s advanced models challenge new therapeutic agents in situations similar to in-patient use, “thereby providing more relevant and clinically predictive data which we have applied to a broad spectrum of therapies including complementary therapies”.