Cancer Research Institute and Canadian Cancer Trials Group Announce Strategic Collaboration

Two leading non-profits combine efforts to accelerate cancer immunotherapy for patients globally

NEW YORK and KINGSTON, ON, Jan. 8, 2018 /PRNewswire/ - The Cancer Research Institute (CRI) and the Canadian Cancer Trials Group (CCTG) today announced a multi-year collaboration to develop and conduct clinical trials in immunotherapy.

Immunotherapy agents are already changing the standard of care for many cancer types, and the landscape continues to grow with over 940 immunotherapy agents in clinical development. There is an urgent need to collaborate on clinical trials and translational research and to unite leading experts. Comprehensive clinical trials, especially basket and umbrella platforms, are needed to efficiently evaluate emerging novel therapies that will hopefully lead to faster approval of better treatments for people with cancer around the world.

"This collaboration is what great partnerships look like—uniting CRI's cancer immunology expertise with the clinical research expertise and global footprint at CCTG, which I've observed is the fastest and most effective cooperative group worldwide. Together, and with our combined global expert network, we will accelerate innovation for patients," said Aiman Shalabi, chief medical officer, Clinical Accelerator, CRI.   

CRI, a US non-profit organization that funds research internationally, has a 65-year legacy of supporting the discovery and development of immunotherapy for all types of cancer. Its unique clinical program, the Anna-Maria Kellen Clinical Accelerator, brings together non-profit-academia-industry partnerships designed to develop and organize the clinical study of combination cancer immunotherapies. 

CCTG is a non-profit cancer research cooperative that designs and conducts clinical trials to improve the practice of treating cancer and to enhance the quality of life for cancer survivors. CCTG is recognized as being one of the most impactful and influential academic groups, and has a proven track record in rapid and efficient conduct of studies across an extensive network in Canada and internationally, many of which have been practice-changing.

"Global collaboration and partnerships are essential to the success of clinical trials and critical in moving the cancer research agenda forward. We are proud to leverage the strengths of both CCTG and CRI in this strategic collaboration to bring important improvements in cancer therapies to the patients that need them," said Janet Dancey, M.D., FRCPC, director, CCTG.

About the Cancer Research Institute

The Cancer Research Institute (CRI), established in 1953, is the world's leading nonprofit organization dedicated exclusively to immuno-oncology and has invested over $357 million to support research at the world's leading medical centers and universities. CRI's clinical program, the Anna-Maria Kellen Clinical Accelerator, is a unique academia-nonprofit-industry collaboration model that serves as an "incubator" that delivers multi-center clinical trials for promising new immunotherapy combinations. CRI's venture philanthropy fund supports clinical trials within this program, which fosters a collaborative environment that enables scientists to advance their most ambitious research ideas, and accelerates studies that one group or company could not do alone. To learn more about the Anna-Maria Kellen Clinical Accelerator, go to www.cancerresearch.org/clinical-accelerator.  

About the Canadian Cancer Trials Group

The Canadian Cancer Trials Group (CCTG) is a cancer clinical trials research cooperative that runs phase I-III trials to test anti-cancer and supportive therapies in over 80 institutions across Canada and internationally. We are supported by core funding from the Canadian Cancer Society. From our centre at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, we have supported over 500 trials in over 40 countries aimed at improving survival and quality of life for all people with cancer. 

SOURCE Canadian Cancer Trials Group