NEW CANAAN, Conn., April 12 /PRNewswire/ -- The Multiple Myeloma Research Consortium (MMRC) announced today that it has selected MDS Pharma Services, a leading provider of innovative drug discovery and development solutions, to serve as its preferred Contract Research Organization (CRO). In this role, MDS Pharma Services will manage and execute MMRC pre-clinical and clinical research efforts, including data management related to the tissue accrual into the state-of-the-art MMRC Tissue Bank. The MMRC will also recommend MDS Pharma Services to industry partners as additional protocols are brought through the Consortium.
"MDS Pharma Services offers a full spectrum of advanced scientific and technological expertise to significantly accelerate each step of the drug discovery and development pathways," said Nancy Sumberaz, President, the MMRC. "We are proud to consider MDS Pharma Services a true partner in our efforts to bring new therapeutic options to patients as quickly as possible."
"MDS Pharma Services is honored to have been chosen by the MMRC and we are ready to bring our global capabilities and oncology expertise to bear on the effort to fight multiple myeloma," says Alan Morgan, Vice President and General Manager for Global Clinical Development, MDS Pharma Services.
About Multiple Myeloma
Multiple myeloma, an incurable cancer of the plasma cell, is the second most common hematologic (blood) cancer, representing one percent of all cancer diagnoses and two percent of all cancer deaths. Despite recent advances in treating myeloma, the five-year survival rate for multiple myeloma is only 32 percent, one of the lowest of all cancers. Approximately 50,000 people in the United States are living with multiple myeloma and an estimated 16,000 new cases are diagnosed each year.
About the Multiple Myeloma Research Consortium (MMRC)
The Multiple Myeloma Research Consortium (MMRC) is a 509a3 non-profit organization that integrates leading academic institutions to accelerate drug development in multiple myeloma. It is comprised of the MMRC and 11 member institutions: City of Hope National Medical Center, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Emory University's Winship Cancer Institute, Hackensack University Medical Center, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute, Mayo Clinic, Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, St. Vincent's Comprehensive Cancer Center of Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Centers of New York, University Health Network (Princess Margaret Hospital), and University of Chicago.
The MMRC was founded in 2004 by Kathy Giusti, a myeloma patient, and with the help of the scientific community, as an optimal research model to rapidly address critical challenges in accelerating drug development and explore opportunities in the most promising areas of myeloma research-genomics, compound validation, and clinical trials. The MMRC is the only consortium to join academic institutions through membership agreements, customized IT systems, and an integrated tissue bank. For more information, please visit http://www.themmrc.org/.
CONTACT: Krista Richardson Fleishman-Hillard 212-453-2412 richardk@fleishman.com
The Multiple Myeloma Research ConsortiumCONTACT: Krista Richardson of Fleishman-Hillard, +1-212-453-2412, orrichardk@fleishman.com, for The Multiple Myeloma Research Consortium
Web site: http://www.themmrc.org/
