Meet the founder searching for the ‘holy grail’ of cancer treatment
Jennifer Sieg speaks with Hilmar Warenius about how his discovery of a new type of cancer treatment could be well on its way to revolutionising the pharmaceutical industry
Hilmar Warenius, a lifelong Oncologist by trade, has spent more than a decade researching and developing a new kind of cancer treatment that he believes will be the pharmaceutical industry’s next groundbreaking discovery.
In 2009, the oncologist-turned-entrepreneur was working as a professor at Liverpool University, in collaboration with Southampton University, when he discovered a new type of way to treat several types of cancer.
The discovery eventually led to the formulation of a drug now called Onkonek, followed by a new biotechnology company called Syntherix, which was founded in 2022 to help formally develop and commercialise the drug.
Unlike other cancer treatments already available on the market, Onkonek works by “selectively starving” only the cancerous cells, while sparing the lives of a body’s healthy cells.
It has so far been lab-tested across some 12 different cancers, including lung, pancreatic and breast, and has shown a 100 per cent success rate.
As of this month, the Syntherix drug, Onkonek – which secured its European patent in June – will officially enter animal trials, which are meant to be carried out for the next 18 months.
Upon successful completion, Warenius says the drug will enter Phase I/II trials, eventually hoping to work its way to human administration by 2028.
Who is Hilmar Warenius?
Warenius is a man of many talents and curiosities. He has spent over four decades in cancer research, the last of which he has dedicated to the planning, testing and development of Onkonek.
But this dedication doesn’t phase him, and despite the gargantuan task of getting a drug to market, Warenius shows no sign of giving up anytime soon.
Warenius kicked off his career in oncology in the 1980s when he first became professor of Radiation Oncology at the University of Liverpool and MC director of the Fast Neutron Therapy Trials.
He’s since held various roles with the University of Southampton Department of Chemistry as well as the University of Southampton Department of Medicine.
Now, having discovered the potential for the Onkonek drug in 2009 and later losing his wife to the battle of breast cancer, he’s determined to prove that a treatment for cancer with “global efficacy” is possible.
“My curious mind led me to make some very interesting scientific discoveries during the time I was a cancer doctor… [now] I found a way of selectively starving just a cancer cell,” Warenius says.
What did he discover?
The Onkonek drug – which Warenius hopes to eventually roll out in pill form – works by “selectively starving” only cancerous cells.
In 2009, Warenius was trying to get a better understanding of cancer when he made a surprising discovery.
Returning to the results of one experiment, and with an overwhelming sense of disbelief, Warenius found all the cancer cells “stone dead.”
This led to the scientific breakthrough, which he turned into a drug and later filed a patent for in 2019. The drug was granted a patent this summer.
The discovery was hard to prove until another lab experiment validated his findings and he went on to produce a drug “100 times more powerful.”
The commencement of animal trials will provide the new data required to permit human administration and pharmacology, Warenius says. They are expected to last around 18 months.
Upon successful completion, the drug will move along to its next phases, with hopes of entering phase three human trials in three to four years time.
Professor Karol Sikora, leading cancer specialist who was clinical director of cancer services for West London, told Ambition AM that this “novel” discovery of targeted selectivity could be the “holy grail” of cancer treatments.
Such selectivity could be the holy grail we’ve been searching for to transform cancer treatment.
He adds: “Such selectivity could be the holy grail we’ve been searching for to transform cancer treatment.
“It could change how we target the bad cells without creating side effects for our patients. We need to get this drug into clinical trials quickly.”
What would it mean for the market?
Warenius calls this new type of treatment ‘selective cancer cell limotherapy’, named after the Greek goddess Limos of famine and hunger because of its cancer cell starvation capabilities.
“I’m starving the cancer cell within the body, without starving any other cells… it’s not just another chemotherapy,” Warenius adds.
With this new approach in mind, Warenius points to the endless possibilities of positioning such a treatment in a competitive and highly-valued market.
The global market for cancer treatment is around $278bn (£212bn) a year, but Onkonek’s success rate across a range of cancers could very well give it a much more competitive advantage than most.
For example, the current lung cancer drug Keytruda, made by pharmaceutical company Merck, generates $25bn (£19bn) a year, with a 30 per cent success rate in five-year survival of patients.
This drug, Warenius says, would be coming out of patent in 2028 – around the same time that Onkonek would be completing its phase two and three studies – just in time for phase three human trials.
“Potentially we could, just on this drug alone, be generating this level of revenue,” he says.
More than the money
Warenius might have stumbled upon the potential for a multi-billion-pound pharmaceutical discovery, but his ambitions are not geared towards money.
His goal, from the moment of discovery, was to make the treatment as accessible and affordable as possible. The NHS, he says, is at the top of the list for priorities.
Warenius adds: “We have not ruled out and are already in discussions with major pharma regarding potential collaborations.
“However, we do see the possibility in Syntherix taking this to market itself and becoming a major pharmaceutical firm.
“We are confident that we can keep our drugs extremely affordable, and this is one reason we may not sell or collaborate with major pharma as our concern is that the price will become unaffordable to most, including the NHS.”
CV
Name: Hilmar Warenius
Company: Syntherix Ltd
Founded: October 2022
Staff: 4
Title: Founder/CEO
Born: Penzance West Penwith (Southwest Cornwall)
Lives: Hitchin
Studied: Cambridge UK
Talents: Poet; Guitarist/blues & rock singer: Model of HMS Belfast self constructed from 1/8th inch mahogany; Cooks Cornish pasties, paella and BBQ tandoori chicken and king prawn; Speaks passable French and some Swedish
Motto: Onen Hag Oll
Most known for: Rendition of Elvis Presley’s “You ain’t a Nothin’ but a Hound Dog” at numerous Karaokes.
First ambition: To be a Medical Student (after seeing the initial release of the film “Doctor in the House”)
Favourite book: Great Expectations
Best piece of advice: “Research is to see what everyone else has seen but to think what no one else has thought” – Once given to me as a quote of Nobel Laureate Szent Georgi