scientists at the University of Portsmouth have discovered a drug that could help brain tumour patients live longer.
But because nobody owns the rights to it, there's no chance of big pharmaceutical companies making money, so it's unlikely to make it on to the market.
Now a research team at the university are hoping to create a virus to mimic the drug in the hope someone would then back it.
University scientists have been working with an anti-depressant drug called clomipramine that has been in clinical use since the 1960s.
The drug may be effective against brain tumours as it can slip past the blood brain barrier and trigger tumour cells to commit suicide instead of attacking its DNA.
The average survival time of people with malignant brain tumours treated with conventional surgery, radiotherapy or chemotherapy is just 12 months.
But some patients treated with clomipramine have survived for as much as seven years with a good quality of life.
Anecdotal evidence from many of the 300 patients in the UK, USA and Australia show their lives have been prolonged by the drug, including former England cricketer Alan Igglesden who has been taking the drug for four years. But despite the success, no drug company will invest in clinical trials because clomipramine is out of patent and cheap.
Research team leader, Professor Geoff Pilkington, said: 'We're going nowhere with this drug. There's no mileage for drug companies to make money out of it.
'And the NHS likes to go through a process of lab work, animal tests, toxicity trials and clinical trials before they consider taking on a drug, and that could cost millions.'
Prof Pilkington added: 'The virus follows the same basic principle and process but it's a lot more complicated and it will need a lot more testing.'
Florence Palmer, spokeswoman for government agency the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, said for the drug to be widely prescribed through the NHS a pharmaceutical company must apply for an extension to the drug's original licence and include data from expensive clinical trials.
Individual doctors could prescribe the drug but they would be liable if something went wrong.
Ms Palmer said: 'It's a commercial decision because at the end of the day they need to provide the data to show the drug is effective and the benefits outweigh the risks.'
Richard Ley, a spokesman for The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, said: 'Developing a drug can cost about £500m – it's an extremely expensive business.
'Companies that report to their shareholders must justify that it will make a reasonable return. If a drug is out of patent it's only worth a few shillings.
'A drugs company must make money to survive. These are the harsh facts.'
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