Development of USP7 inhibitors for cancer therapy

A small UK biotech company has identified a set of chemical compounds that block a specific enzyme, and now aims to turn them into drugs for some of the hardest-to-treat cancers. These compounds target a deubiquitylating enzyme (DUB)—a protein that cells use to regulate the breakdown of other proteins. In many cancers, DUBs become overactive, helping tumour cells survive and resist treatment. Current drugs rarely target this class of enzymes, so there is a clear gap in the arsenal against soft tissue sarcomas and other cancers where standard therapies often fail. If the project succeeds, it would produce a first-in-class DUB inhibitor drug. For patients with soft tissue sarcomas—a group of rare, aggressive tumours with limited treatment options—that could mean a new line of therapy where none currently exists. The company, MISSION Therapeutics, is already experienced in this area, with several other DUB-targeting projects in advanced development. The work is squarely translational: it aims to move a laboratory discovery directly into clinical testing, not to answer a fundamental biological question.