Massachusetts Biotechnology Council, Inc. Issues $1.4 Million "Cancer Research Challenge" to Support American Cancer Society

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Massachusetts Biotechnology Council (MBC) President Robert K. Coughlin will announce at the MBC Annual Meeting in Boston today that the organization is issuing an unprecedented challenge to life sciences companies to fully fund our region’s most promising cancer research in 2008, through a partnership with the American Cancer Society. MBC member companies, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals and Novartis have generously stepped forward with the lead commitments to each fund a three-year American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellowship. Both companies have significant operations in Massachusetts and are committed to ensuring that the state’s pipeline of talented research investigators remains full. AstraZeneca has a major cancer research facility in Waltham, and operations located in Westborough, while Cambridge is home to Novartis headquarters for its global research organization and the headquarters for its global Vaccines Division.