What PACT Partners are saying

AbbVie:

“Given the significant unmet needs that exist in oncology, it’s critical we work together to drive clinical research and development of innovative therapies that can ultimately make an impact on the lives of people around the world affected by cancer,” said Tom Hudson M.D., Vice President of Oncology Discovery and Early Development, AbbVie. “AbbVie applauds the efforts being made to drive forward innovation in oncology and we recognize that tackling the toughest challenges today is going to take all of us – scientists, physicians, industry peers, patient groups and most importantly patients.”

Amgen:

“Amgen has seen first-hand the impact immunotherapies can have on the lives of cancer patients, yet we know far too little about why certain patients respond to these therapies and why others do not,” said David Reese, M.D., Senior Vice President of Translational Sciences, Amgen. “We’re eager to work with the NIH and our industry partners on this vitally important collaboration, which we believe will help to accelerate the numerous research efforts currently underway for the many cancer patients who are waiting for their breakthrough treatment.”

Boehringer Ingelheim:

“Immuno-Oncology is changing the way cancer is treated though we are still limited in our ability to identify responding patients. A huge step forward in the Immuno-Oncology field and the major focus of the PACT initiative will be to identify relevant biomarkers for patient selection and develop standardized assays for the analysis of immune parameters in treated patients,” said Michel Pairet, Ph.D., Member of the Board of Managing Directors, Corporate Board Division Innovation, Boehringer Ingelheim.

Bristol-Myers Squibb:

“At Bristol-Myers Squibb, our vision for the future of cancer care is focused on researching and developing transformational Immuno-Oncology medicines and we believe that the initiatives being advanced through the Partnership for Accelerating Cancer Therapies will be critical to improving outcomes for patients in the future,” said Fouad Namouni, M.D., Oncology Development Head at Bristol-Myers Squibb.  “We look forward to working closely with the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health and the other PACT partners to further understand the role of biomarkers in Immuno-Oncology drug development with the collective goal of providing new treatment options that advance the standards of clinical practice.”

Celgene:

“We are in an unparalleled time of medical advances that can continue to improve patients’ lives, decrease mortality, and reduce the burden on healthcare systems,” said Mark J. Alles, Chief Executive Officer, Celgene Corporation.

Genentech:

"We support PACT because collaboration is an important step that can lead to new breakthroughs and possibly even a chance for cure," said Edith Perez, M.D., Vice President and Head of BioOncology Medical Affairs, Genentech, and Director of the Mayo Clinic Breast Cancer Translational Genomics Program. "When industry, academia and government work together to share scientific knowledge and new technologies, we have a chance to make significant strides in the fight against cancer and to ultimately help more people."

Gilead:

“Gilead is proud to be part of this collaborative effort to broaden the reach of cancer immunotherapy and bring this new frontier in cancer treatment to many more patients in need,” said Kacy Hutchison, Vice President, North America Government Affairs, Gilead Sciences. “We are at the beginning of a new era of personalized cancer treatment with engineered cell therapies like CAR T. PACT’s planned research has the potential to advance understanding of the field and demonstrate yet again the importance of public private partnership in driving advances to address patients’ unmet medical needs.”

GlaxoSmithKline:

“The PACT collaboration brings together leading researchers from the NCI and the pharmaceutical industry to overcome central obstacles to optimizing the power of immuno-oncology therapies – high variability in the use of biomarker assays that can determine which patients may be best treated with which drug or combination. By harmonizing the way we use biomarker tools, we believe we can reduce data heterogeneity and accelerate development of immunotherapies. We look forward to working alongside the members of PACT to drive progress for the research community and bring the right medicines to the right patients," said Axel Hoos, M.D., Ph.D., Co-chair PACT and Senior Vice President Oncology R&D, GlaxoSmithKline.

Janssen:

“Through this partnership, we aim to make a meaningful difference in the way we test, validate and share vital information about biomarkers,” said Peter Lebowitz, M.D., Ph.D., Global Therapeutic Area Head, Oncology, Janssen Pharmaceuticals. “At Janssen, we strive to transform outcomes for people living with cancer. This collaboration promises to advance the benefit of immunotherapy for patients in need.”

Novartis:

“We are thrilled to join forces with our colleagues from industry and the NIH to accelerate our understanding of cancer immunity – importantly to discover and deploy new biomarkers that identify patients who could be helped by emerging immune-oncology therapeutics,” said Jay Bradner, M.D., President, Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research.

Pfizer:

“Ensuring that cancer patients derive the maximum possible benefit from advances in immunotherapies is at the core of Pfizer’s Research & Development efforts. We are proud to support the PACT, and its urgent mission to work with the health innovation ecosystem to advance the impact of the latest cancer advances to a larger group of patients, in a timely fashion,” said Robert T. Abraham, Ph.D., Senior Vice President & Group Head, Oncology Research & Development, Pfizer Worldwide Research & Development.