Pfizer form liver cancer research partnership in Korea
pharmafile | July 15, 2010 | News story | Research and Development |
Pfizer has formed a research partnership with Samsung Medical Centre in Seoul for the analysis of Korean liver cancer patients in order to generate gene expression profiles for the condition.
The team, led by Professor Paik Soon-Myung, director of the cancer research centre, will conduct analysis on liver cancer patients in Seoul at the Samsung Medical Centre. Dr Neil Gibson, VP of oncology research, will be responsible for the joint research programme at Pfizer.
Neil Gibson, VP of Oncology Research Unit in Pfizer, said: “This partnership will serve as a great opportunity to combine Pfizer’s know-how in drug development and Samsung Medical Centre’s extensive genome information and technology in the liver cancer area.
“We further plan to share the ownership of collected and analysed data with Samsung Medical Centre, contributing to advance of a variety of oncology research in Korea.”
Pfizer expanded into the market for targeted anti-cancer agents with the launch of Sutent, an agent used to treat an advanced form of kidney cancer.
Since then, the company has been investing in R&D of drug candidates and potential treatments for patients with liver cancer that is especially prevalent in Asia. This joint research partnership aims to extend this commitment.
Choi Han-Yong, president of Samsung Medical Centre, said: “We are pleased to have an opportunity to work with the world’s number one pharmaceutical company Pfizer to better understand cancer in Korean patients, with the goal of being able to send a new message of hope for patients with liver cancer across the world, especially in Asia.”
Pfizer signed a ‘memorandum of understanding’ with the Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare in 2007, agreeing to invest $300 million in R&D in the country.
As part of this memorandum, the company also formed a strategic partnership with the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology and has been leading joint research since then.
Ben Adams
