Joining with AstraZeneca to take on ovarian and gynecologic cancers
BY Ron Gilmore
February 11, 2015
Medically Reviewed | Last reviewed by an MD Anderson Cancer Center medical professional on February 11, 2015
MD Anderson and AstraZeneca recently announced a multi-year strategic research collaboration to conduct multiple, parallel clinical and clinically related studies in ovarian and other gynecologic cancers with the aim of improving patient outcomes.
The agreement represents a unique approach to research by focusing on clinical trials using investigational therapies as well as epidemiological and outcomes studies. AstraZeneca and MD Anderson are changing how industry and academia can collaborate in deeper and broader ways to help expedite the development of treatments for women with unmet medical needs.
The data collected from these studies is expected to inform the development and utility of existing and future therapies. MD Anderson scientists will have access to therapeutic agents in the AstraZeneca pipeline, and future studies will be determined by the collaboration.
“AstraZeneca is committed to helping redefine the cancer treatment paradigm, beginning with our powerful clinical development program for ovarian cancer,” said Greg Keenan, AstraZeneca's chief medical officer in the U.S. “Working to fully realize the potential of novel targeted therapies and immunotherapies, as well as novel combinations to drive improved outcomes, engages us in true partnerships to better understand the science. The collaboration with MD Anderson is ideal as it maximizes our ability to explore these combinations through AstraZeneca’s robust pipeline while providing us with unique insights and data.”
The collaboration will draw on the expertise of MD Anderson’s Moon Shots Program, which aims to accelerate the conversion of scientific discoveries into clinical advances and significantly reduce cancer deaths. The effort also leverages resources such as the institution’s Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Institute for Personalized Cancer Therapy (IPCT) and novel agents from AstraZeneca.
Oncology is a core growth platform for AstraZeneca, and the company is aiming to bring six new cancer medicines to patients by 2020. AstraZeneca’s broad pipeline of oncology medicines is focused on four main disease areas: breast, ovarian, lung and hematological cancers. These are being targeted through immunotherapy, the genetic drivers of cancer and resistance, DNA damage repair and antibody drug conjugates.