AbbVie

AbbVie and MD Anderson in cancer research partnership

pharmafile | January 25, 2016 | News story | Research and Development, Sales and Marketing AbbVie, MD Anderson Cancer Centre, immuno-oncology 

AbbVie has announced a new partnership with The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Centre, using its immunotherapy platform to find new ways to boost the immune system’s ability to fight cancer. 

The three-year collaboration agreement will allow MD Anderson and AbbVie to choose and carry out preclinical and clinical studies evaluating new cutting-edge practices in immuno-oncology.

AbbVie and MD Anderson will each assign two scientists to a joint scientific committee, which decides on projects to pursue. “With the collaboration agreement in place, we can move quickly to design and implement new studies, clinical trials, and exchanges of reagents and take other actions without having to reach new, separate agreements,” says Padmanee Sharma, immunotherapy platform scientific director and professor of genitourinary medical oncology and immunology at MD Anderson.

Existing immunotherapy drugs have been shown to significantly extend survival in people with advanced melanoma and lung cancer, and many such drugs are also are being trialled in other cancer types.  Jim Allison, executive director of the immunotherapy platform and chair of Immunology at MD Anderson, notes there are many more potential targets for drugs to mobilise the immune system to attack other cancers.

“Cancer immunotherapy drugs that remove two types of brakes on immune response are really just the tip of the iceberg for this field,” Allison comments. “Our agreements with companies such as AbbVie allow academic and industry scientists to work efficiently to move the science forward and extend this approach to more patients.”

In recent months, The University of Texas has partnered with additional companies including Merck and Kymab on immunotherapy-based cancer research. AbbVie’s research efforts in the field leverage in particular the company’s strengths in biology, protein engineering and chemistry.

“AbbVie has both identified new molecules and developed novel technology to hit key targets, with the objective of designing new immunotherapy for the benefit of patients,” Sharma says.

Michael Severino, executive vice president, R&D and chief scientific officer, AbbVie, adds: “Pairing MD Anderson’s cutting-edge preclinical, translational and clinical capabilities with AbbVie’s innovative discovery and development programs accelerates our ability to deliver new therapies that can help transform the lives of people affected by cancer. AbbVie is pleased to partner with MD Anderson’s world-class experts so that together we can advance the science of cancer immunotherapy for the benefit of patients around the world.”

The collaboration will get underway with projects driven by AbbVie Biotherapeutics, AbbVie’s centre of innovation in the biotech hub of the San Francisco Bay Area. Future projects will draw from the extensive portfolio of oncology programs across the AbbVie oncology pipeline.

MD Anderson confirmed that the AbbVie agreement is the first in a series of collaborations for the University’s immunotherapy platform in 2016. The cancer centre’s platform combines expertise and advanced technology for preclinical modelling, innovative clinical trials and immune monitoring before, during and after treatment to better understand drug mechanisms and identify biomarkers to guide treatment.

James Allison, the platform’s leader, developed the breakthrough immunotherapy approach known as immune checkpoint blockade, which uses antibodies to block proteins on the surface of T cells that otherwise shut down T cells’ attack on cancer.

Joel Levy

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