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Adipose spheroid by LightOx

Project Summary

LightOx, a biotech SME developing light-activated therapies, worked with the Central Laser Facility (CLF) and Professor Helen Fielding at University College London to investigate a new light-activated cancer drug candidate. Using time-resolved infrared and transient absorption spectroscopy at the Ultra facility within the CLF’s Lasers for Science Facility, the team generated data further characterising the molecule’s photophysical behaviour.

The results provided evidence supporting the compound’s light-activated mechanism of action, helping streamline both the development pathway and regulatory approach. The work has helped LightOx progress its technology towards clinical trials for early forms of oral cancer while demonstrating how national research facilities can accelerate the translation of fundamental chemistry into medical treatments.

Challenge

Around 8,800 cases of oral cancer are diagnosed in the UK each year, with incidence rising and survival rates still poor. Oral cancer has a particularly poor prognosis because it is often diagnosed late, and most cases still rely on invasive surgery.
Light-activated drugs offer a promising approach to oral cancer treatment, using targeted light exposure to activate therapeutic molecules where they are needed. LightOx has been developing a novel drug therapy, LXD191, with applications in early-stage intervention before development of advanced oral cancers.

The therapeutic effect of LXD191 is driven by precisely controlled, light‑activated photochemical processes that operate on rapid timescales. Fully defining these processes, however, is beyond the capabilities of conventional laboratory techniques and requires specialist ultrafast instrumentation capable of directly interrogating molecular behaviour immediately following light activation.
Medical regulators require clear evidence demonstrating how a molecule behaves and produces its therapeutic effect; without this information, developers must account for multiple possible mechanisms during safety testing, increasing costs and toxicology requirements. For a growing company progressing towards clinical development, further characterising the molecule’s behaviour was essential to de-risk the programme.

Approach

To address this challenge, LightOx partnered with CLF's expert staff team and Professor Helen Fielding, a physical chemist at University College London (UCL) specialising in ultrafast laser spectroscopy.

Using the Ultra facility at the CLF's Lasers for Science Facility (LSF)​, the team applied several time-resolved spectroscopy techniques to study the drug candidate’s behaviour following light activation. These experiments allowed the researchers to examine the molecule’s excited-state dynamics and understand how light activation drives its therapeutic activity. Access to the ​CLF allowed the team to observe the molecule over longer timescales than was possible with laboratory equipment, helping capture the full extent of its light-activated behaviour.

By combining LightOx’s biological and imaging studies with advanced spectroscopy at LSF, the collaboration linked fundamental physical chemistry with real biological outcomes. This integrated approach provided new insights into how the molecule behaves in biologically relevant environments and helped further characterise the processes responsible for its activity.
Benefits

The data generated during the project provided evidence supporting LightOx’s regulatory submissions and development strategy, strengthening the mechanistic foundation underpinning the programme’s clinical progression. By fully characterising how the molecule behaves after light activation, the work has also enabled LightOx to take a more targeted, mechanism‑led approach to downstream development and regulatory engagement.

This has allowed LightOx to streamline its development pathway, reducing the need for additional exploratory testing and helping limit unnecessary animal studies. The results also strengthen confidence among investors and partners as the company advances the compound towards UK clinical trials for oral cancer.

More broadly, the research demonstrates the value of collaboration between SMEs, academic researchers and national research facilities. Access to national facilities and expertise enabled LightOx to obtain insights that would otherwise be difficult to achieve, accelerating the development of innovative new therapies.

Quotes

“This project has not only accelerated our development programme, it has also allowed us to interrogate a genuinely fascinating photochemical system in detail. By defining these ultrafast processes completely, we can take a far more proactive, mechanism‑led approach to development.”

- Dr David Chisholm, Head of Technology at LightOx

“It is very exciting contributing to a drug development programme, and it is always a pleasure to work with the CLF scientists.”

- ​Professor Helen Fielding, Thomas Graham Professor of Chemistry at UCL
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