NEWS RELEASE
PFIZER AND B.C.
LAUNCH $9M COLLABORATION TO TACKLE CANCER
VANCOUVER Pfizer is entering into a
three-year, $9-million research collaboration with the BC Cancer Agency and the
Vancouver Prostate Centre, a University of British Columbia (UBC) and Vancouver
General Hospital (VGH) Centre of Excellence, to tackle new treatment avenues
for breast, ovarian and prostate cancer. This is the single-largest investment
by Pfizer into British Columbias public research sector, and it recognizes the
strength and world-class cancer expertise that resides in this province.
While British Columbia has
some of the best cancer survival outcomes and lowest incidence rates in Canada,
we are committed to building on our successes through investments and innovations
in prevention, treatment and research, said Health Services Minister Kevin
Falcon. I would like to thank Pfizer Canada for their recognition of British
Columbias cancer research abilities with their investment of $9 million for
research into new treatments of breast, ovarian and prostate cancer.
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, said Paul Lvesque, president,
Pfizer Canada. 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. Overall, British
Columbias research climate, capacity and expertise are why Pfizer has brought
close to $25 million of additional investment to the province since 2007.
The research
collaboration project focuses on identifying new biomarkers and treatment
targets for breast and ovarian cancer, and will help Pfizer to more efficiently
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
next-generation sequencing, siRNA screens and the BC Cancer Agencys unique
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. Dr. David Huntsman, director of the Ovarian Cancer Research Program
at BC Cancer Agency and Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute and associate
professor, department of pathology and laboratory medicine, UBC, will lead that
work.
Research
collaborations with experienced industry partners are vital to translating our
discoveries into effective medicines for patients. Thanks to this collaboration
with Pfizer, we will be able to extend our search for new therapeutic targets
and biomarkers, using the BC Cancer Agencys unique breast tumour resource,
said Dr. Samuel Aparicio, head of the molecular oncology and breast cancer
research program at the BC Cancer Agency and a professor in the department of
pathology and laboratory medicine at UBC. By combining our platforms with our
anonymous, long-term data on breast cancer patients in B.C., we hope to
discover new drug targets and biomarkers that will be developed into new
therapies.
The research at
the Vancouver Prostate Centre will be conducted through the Translational
Research Initiative for Accelerated Discovery and Development (PC-TRIADD),
directed by Gleave, who is also a distinguished professor in the department of
urologic sciences, UBC faculty of medicine, and the B.C. leadership chair in prostate
cancer research.
This partnership
with one of the worlds major pharmaceutical companies supports and accelerates
one of our key areas of focus, which is to identify why prostate cancer becomes
hormone-resistant and to use this information to develop new treatments that
improve the quality and longevity of life for patients, said Gleave. We are
proud to work with Pfizer and the BC Cancer Agency to continue to bring
discoveries from the lab to our patient clinic and offer the best in
cutting-edge treatment to British Columbians.
It is hoped this
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.
The BC Cancer
Agency and the Vancouver Prostate Centre are respectively programs of the
Provincial Health Services Authority and Vancouver Coastal Health Research
Institute and UBCs faculty of medicine.
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