The Jackson Laboratory Partners With National Cancer Institute, University of California, Davis (UCD) to Speed New Cancer Treatments to Clinical Trials
June 10, 2011 Bar Harbor, Maine—About nine out of 10 new cancer drugs successfully clear preclinical development hurdles, but then they fail in human clinical testing. The Jackson Laboratory is partnering with a component of the National Cancer Institute and The UC Davis Cancer Center to help change that outcome.
The partnership brings together The UC Davis Cancer Center, The Jackson Laboratory and the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Center for Advanced Preclinical Research (CAPR), all under the umbrella of NCI’s Advanced Technology Partnerships Initiative (ATPI). SAIC-Frederick facilitates translational research and development partnerships in cancer and AIDS for the ATPI as part of its longstanding operations and technical support contract with NCI.
Under the partnership, a range of genetically engineered and human transplant mouse model studies will be integrated with patient treatment clinical trial studies under a uniform and controlled testing mechanism. Data resulting from this combined approach will help identify molecules (biomarkers) that could predict conditions under which candidate drugs will be most effective. These data could be invaluable for designing clinical trials and improving treatment outcomes.
“There is an urgent need for more predictive models of human cancer for drug discovery,” said Chuck Hewett, Ph.D., Executive Vice President and COO of The Jackson Laboratory. “Unfortunately, nine out of 10 cancer drugs entering preclinical testing fail. This comes at great cost to the pharmaceutical industry and to patients. The integrated approach we have with CAPR and UC Davis targets these issues directly.”
The partnership draws on particular strengths of each organization. CAPR brings expertise in engineered mouse models, Jackson adds experience in human transplant models, and UC Davis contributes extensive knowledge of cancer drug clinical trials and laboratory resources.
The Jackson Laboratory, founded as a cancer research center in 1929, is a nonprofit biomedical research institution and National Cancer Institute-designated Cancer Center based in Bar Harbor, Maine. Its mission is to discover the genetic basis for preventing, treating and curing human diseases, and to enable research and education for the global biomedical community.
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