World Cancer Day 2025

In 2022 alone, 9.7 million people worldwide lost their lives to cancer, and the number of new cases is expected to rise to nearly 30 million by 2040. It is a disease that takes so much from so many, underscoring the urgent need for continued innovation and collaboration in oncology research and treatment. At Croda Pharma, we use our Smart science to improve lives™, driving innovation in the formulation of oncology treatments that bring hope to patients and their families. Our bioprocessing and drug delivery solutions enable the production of life-saving biologics and small molecule treatments, helping ensure their safety, stability, and efficacy. 

On this World Cancer Day, we reflect on the progress made in the fight against cancer and the critical role our high purity ingredients play in developing life-saving therapeutics for oncology. From small molecules and proteins to advanced cell and gene therapies, our innovations enable the bioproduction and delivery of today’s most promising cancer therapeutics. 

Empowering innovation in cancer treatment through our Smart Science  

Final formulation and fill-finish The final steps in drug manufacturing—final formulation and fill-finish—are critical for ensuring the safety, stability, and efficacy of oncology drugs. Whether for small molecule chemotherapeutics or complex biologics, selecting the right excipients is key. Croda Pharma provides a wide range of high purity, multicompendial, and cGMP-grade ingredients designed to meet the rigorous demands of final formulation across all administration routes and dosage forms, helping you achieve the highest standards in drug development needed for regulatory approval. 

Small Molecule Delivery

Chemotherapeutics Small-molecule drugs have long been the backbone of cancer treatment, directly targeting rapidly dividing cells. Our Super Refined™ and HP grade excipients can enhance the solubility, stability, and bioavailability of your formulation, ensuring these powerful treatments reach tumor sites effectively. 

Protein delivery 

Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) Many leading cancer therapies are monoclonal antibodies, or mAbs, designed to precisely target cancer cells. Our Super Refined™ and HP grade ingredients are designed to support the stabilisation and formulation of these critical biologics.

Bispecific antibodies By simultaneously binding to cancer cells and immune cells, bispecific antibodies help the body’s immune system recognize and destroy tumors more effectively. Croda Pharma supplies high purity ingredients that may support the formulation, stabilisation, and delivery of these innovative biologics, ensuring their efficacy and safety in emerging oncology treatments.

Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) ADCs combine the precision of monoclonal antibodies with the potency of chemotherapeutics, delivering cytotoxic agents directly to cancer cells while minimising damage to healthy tissue. Our chemistries Super Refined™ Polysorbate 20 and Super Refined™ Polysorbate 80, both included in marketed ADCs, support the stability and formulation of these cutting-edge therapies.

Nucleic Acid Delivery

mRNA vaccines While best known for infectious diseases such as COVID-19, mRNA-based cancer vaccines are an emerging field, helping train the immune system to recognise and fight tumors. Our Avanti Research® grade lipid delivery systems play a key role in stabilising these delicate molecules.

Adeno-associated viral vectors (AAVs) AAV vectors are widely used in gene therapy and are now being explored for delivering cancer immunotherapies. Our bioprocessing range and Super Refined™ and HP grade ingredients support viral vector production and stability.

Cell and gene therapy (CGT) One of the most revolutionary advances in cancer treatment, cell and gene therapies like CAR-T reprogram immune cells to recognise and attack cancer. Super Refined™ Poloxamer 188 can be used in the upstream bioprocessing to help optimise cell culture conditions and ensure the purity and batch-to-batch consistency of these transformative treatments. 

Adjuvant Systems

Oncology vaccines Adjuvants can play a crucial role in oncology vaccines by enhancing the immune response against cancer antigens. Our portfolio includes adjuvant systems which target therapeutic cancer vaccines by inducing strong CD8+ T-cell responses. 

Bioprocessing: from upstream to downstream

The successful development of biologic cancer therapies depends on robust bioprocessing solutions at every stage—from upstream to downstream. An optimised bioprocess is critical for ensuring the quality, consistency, and safety of your biologic molecule. Croda Pharma provides innovative bioprocessing ingredients that support cell culture, viral inactivation, cell lysis and clarification steps, enabling the efficient biomanufacturing of monoclonal antibodies, gene therapies, and other advanced oncology therapeutics. Our bioprocessing solutions offer exceptional performance and batch-to-batch consistency, empowering innovators to bring life-saving cancer treatments to market.  

• Cell culture – The production of biologic cancer therapies, including monoclonal antibodies and CGT, depends on optimised cell culture conditions. Our Super Refined™ Poloxamer 188, optimised for mammalian cell culture, helps ensure consistent and reproducible cell performance from batch to batch.
• Viral inactivation – Safety is paramount in final biopharmaceutical formulations, and a viral inactivation step is essential in downstream processing. Our viral inactivation solutions, Virodex™ TXR-1 and Virodex™ TXR-2, are sustainable and effective replacements for the banned chemistry Triton™ X-100, ensuring the safety of biologics for oncology. 
• Cell lysis – Effective cell lysis is crucial for releasing the desired therapeutic proteins or nucleic acids from within cells. Virodex™ TXR-1 and Virodex™ TXR-2 offer effective cell disruption with no negative impact on biologic product integrity.  
• Clarification – The bioproduction of cancer therapies requires high-performance filtration and clarification steps. Our Super Refined™ polysorbates can support the downstream processing of biologics.  

Empowering biologics delivery: Our commitment to the fight against cancer 

At Croda Pharma, we are proud to support the development and manufacturing of oncology therapies that save lives. By providing high purity excipients, lipids, adjuvant systems and bioprocessing solutions, we help our partners bring innovative cancer treatments to market—faster, safer, and more effectively. 

This World Cancer Day, we reaffirm our commitment to Empowering biologics delivery™, striving for a world where cancer is no longer an obstacle to us.  

Together, we are making a difference.