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news.To identify new biomarkers and treatment targets for breast and ovarian cancer
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Pfizer is entering into a three-year, $9m research collaboration with the BC Cancer Agency and the Vancouver Prostate Centre, a University of British Columbia (UBC) and Vancouver General Hospital (VGH), to tackle new treatment avenues for breast, ovarian and prostate cancer.
The research collaboration project focuses on identifying new biomarkers and treatment targets for breast and ovarian cancer, and will help Pfizer to test new agents to delay the progression and improve survival in prostate cancer patients.
The BC Cancer Agency team, led by Dr Samuel Aparicio, is investigating the genomic landscape of breast cancer using sequencing, siRNA screens and the BC Cancer Agency’s anonymous breast cancer tumour bank with detailed outcomes data on over 4,000 frozen breast cancers. The collaboration aims to identify new therapeutic targets and new biomarkers of disease and treatment.
The Vancouver Prostate Centre, under the leadership of Dr Martin Gleave, has developed an early drug discovery platform that brings multiple experts together to rapidly and efficiently evaluate the mechanism of action and efficacy of new drug molecules.
In addition, as part of the breast cancer research program, ovarian cancer will also be decoded to identify new and much needed biomarkers and therapeutic targets for more personalized approaches in ovarian cancer treatment.
It is hoped that the collaboration will identify new molecular entities that can be developed into therapeutics to fight cancers more rapidly. Breast cancer is the second leading cancer-related cause of death in females, and prostate cancer is the third leading cancer-related cause of death in Canada.
Paul Levesque, president of Pfizer Canada, said: “This investment is a major step in the fight to control cancer in tumour areas that kill thousands of British Columbians and Canadians every year. Pfizer is excited about the opportunity to collaborate with The BC Cancer Agency and the Vancouver Prostate Centre, as they are outstanding translational research centres with international reputations.”