The Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania, The Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at Columbia University Medical Center, the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, and The Tisch Cancer Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have announced the establishment of a research consortium focused on accelerating the discovery and development of novel cancer therapeutics and diagnostics for the benefit of patients.
Shared Goals and Collaborative Agreements
The consortium aligns four major academic institutions in a unified partnership with the shared goal of creating high-impact research programs to discover new treatments for cancer. The multi-institutional consortium and agreements between Celgene Corporation and each institution will aim to facilitate the rapid delivery of disease-altering agents to the clinic, ultimately benefiting patients with cancer and the global health-care system.
Subsequent to establishing the consortium, Celgene entered into four public-private collaboration agreements in which it paid a total of $50 million ($12.5 million to each institution) for the option to enter into future agreements to develop and commercialize novel cancer therapeutics arising from the consortium’s efforts. Over the next 10 years, the institutions intend to present multiple high-impact research programs to Celgene with the goal of developing new effective cancer therapeutics.
Steven Burakoff, MD
Stephen G. Emerson, MD, PhD
William Nelson, MD, PhD
Chi Van Dang, MD, PhD
The four cancer center directors—Steven Burakoff, MD (Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai); Stephen G. Emerson, MD, PhD (Columbia University); William Nelson, MD, PhD (Johns Hopkins University); and Chi Van Dang, MD, PhD (University of Pennsylvania)—said in a shared statement: “The active and coordinated engagement, creative thinking, and unique perspectives and expertise of each institution have made this collaboration a reality. Our shared vision and unified approach to biomedical research, discovery, and development, combined with Celgene’s vast research, development and global commercial expertise, will enable us to accelerate the development and delivery of next-generation cancer therapies to patients worldwide.”
The four institutions collectively care for more than 30,000 new cancer patients each year and have nearly 800 faculty members who are active in basic and clinical research as well as clinical care.
They are among the 69 institutions designated as Cancer Centers by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). ■
