Our Story
From Insight to Impact
At Hado Therapeutics, our journey began with a bold question: Can we discover smarter medicines for diseases that seem untreatable? Since 2001, we’ve pursued answers through knowledge-led innovation, developing first-in-class therapies using a focused, low-throughput, high-insight approach. Our foundation is rooted in academic excellence and translational research. Based at the Institute of Cancer Therapeutics (ICT) at the University of Bradford, we work alongside world-class researchers and clinical scientists to transform groundbreaking ideas into real-world therapeutics.
Anchored in Expertise
Two distinguished scientists lead our research collaborations:
1. Professor Robert Falconer, Director of the ICT and Head of Translational Development at Hado, is a medicinal chemist with over 25 years of experience. He has pioneered cancer drug development through the development of patented protease-activated prodrugs and antimetastatic agents, and co-founded Incanthera plc to translate academic discoveries into commercial therapies.
2. Professor Klaus Pors, Head of Targeted Therapeutics and Innovation, is a leading chemical biologist whose work focuses on tumour-selective drug design. His team has developed licensed technologies for bioprecursor chemotherapies and commercialised fluorescent probes like CyTRAK™ and DRAQ9™, used globally in live-cell assays.
Their combined leadership drives Hado’s mission: to challenge conventional models of drug discovery and focus on diseases like glioblastoma, Parkinson’s, and diabetic neuropathy, where few options exist.
Redefining Drug Discovery
We are developing HT8457, a dual-target therapy that attacks glioblastoma through a unique “Double Tap” mechanism — simultaneously blocking adenosine A2A and mGluR5 receptors. This approach disrupts both tumour growth and immune evasion, offering a powerful alternative to traditional therapies.
Data, strategic collaboration, and a commitment to scientific integrity inform every step of our journey. Together with our CRO partners and our academic network, we are developing scalable, licensable therapies that are ready for IND submission.