Pfizer, Lilly and Merck partner for cancer research
pharmafile | February 23, 2010 | News story | Research and Development | Asia, Cancer, developing world, em, emerging markets
Three pharma companies have formed a not-for-profit organisation, the Asian Cancer Research Group (ACRG), to boost work on treating common cancers.
The move by Pfizer, Lilly and Merck follows a trend which has seen manufacturers making knowledge and resources available to help poorer countries.
Last month GlaxoSmithKline set up a facility in Spain to investigate new medicines to treat diseases of the developing world, while simultaneously making public 13,500 malaria compounds.
Part of the rationale behind the ACRG is that up to 40% of patients with lung cancer in Asia present with the EGFR mutation, which is relatively rare in Western patients.
The new body says this suggests a different research approach is needed to develop treatments for some patient populations.
“Environmental and genetic factors are believed to underlie the dramatic differences in the molecular subtypes and incidence of cancers in Asia and other parts of the world,” said Neil Gibson, chief scientific officer of Pfizer’s Oncology Research Unit.
The ACRG will focus on lung and gastric cancer, “freely sharing the resulting data with the scientific community” – a process of dissemination which will be managed through Lilly’s Singapore research site.
The companies have committed to creating over the next two years a cancer database comprising information from 2,000 tissue samples from relevant patients.
“The ACRG is about sharing information for the common good,” said Kerry Blanchard, leader of drug development in China for Lilly.
“This company will aid researchers around the world to develop diagnostics, tailor current treatments and develop novel therapies to improve outcomes for affected patients with lung, gastric and perhaps other forms of cancer.”
Gastric cancer is at “near epidemic proportions in some countries in Asia”, the ACRG states, killing 630,000 patients per year and the second largest cause of cancer death in the world.
“Through its work and the subsequent sharing of information, the ACRG hopes to empower researchers, foster innovation and improve the prognosis and treatment of patients with cancer,” said Gary Gilliland, franchise head, oncology at Merck Research Laboratories.
The company’s first task is to establish collaborations throughout Asia which will allow it to collect the required tissue samples and data.
Related Content
Central nervous system cancer metastases – the evolution of diagnostics and treatment
The current forms of immunotherapy, how T cell therapy works and what the future holds
BioMed X and Servier launch Europe’s first XSeed Labs to advance AI-powered antibody design
BioMed X and Servier have announced the launch of Europe’s first XSeed Labs research project, …
T-cell therapy – the evolution of cancer treatments
The current forms of immunotherapy, how T cell therapy works and what the future holds
