AbbVie signed separate five-year collaboration agreements with two cancer centers: the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University and the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
The agreements are intended to advancing research and discovery in oncology.
AbbVie and Northwestern will work in several areas of oncology research, which could include, lung, colorectal, breast, prostate and hematological cancer.
“One of the best steps AbbVie can take to deliver new therapies in oncology is to combine our research and discovery expertise with the talents and insight of our colleagues in academic medicine,” said Gary Gordon, vice president, oncology clinical development, AbbVie. “The opportunity to work with leading researchers and clinicians from the Lurie Cancer Center enhances AbbVie’s ability to help oncology patients even more in the future.”
The collaboration provides Lurie Cancer Center scientists with the opportunity to access new therapies developed by AbbVie for preclinical research funded under the agreement. Lurie Cancer Center scientists will also work closely with AbbVie’s research teams to support scientific knowledge exchange. In addition, the agreement provides AbbVie with the option to obtain an exclusive license of certain Lurie Cancer Center discoveries made as a result of the five-year collaboration.
“The ability to investigate new therapeutic agents with AbbVie provides us with a great opportunity to expand our translational oncology efforts,” said Leonidas Platanias, director of the Lurie Cancer Center. “Our partnership with AbbVie will facilitate and accelerate the development of innovative new therapies against a wide variety of different cancers.”
The agreement with Johns Hopkins will focus on several areas of oncology research, which could include lung, colorectal, breast, prostate and hematological cancer.
“As an alumnus and a former faculty member of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, I know from my own experience that we will be able to combine AbbVie’s expertise in oncology with some of the most talented academic researchers in the field of medicine today,” Gordon said in a statement. “This collaboration will combine our resources and talent with Johns Hopkins Medicine to help further advance our ability to develop new therapies available for cancer patients in need.”
The agreement allows Johns Hopkins Medicine physicians and scientists access to explore new therapies developed by AbbVie for use in preclinical research funded by the collaboration. In addition, the relationship includes opportunities for research and development teams from both organizations to work closely to promote scientific knowledge exchange. AbbVie also gains an option for an exclusive license to certain Johns Hopkins Medicine discoveries made under the agreement.
“The importance of cancer research is critical to developing new therapies that could have life-changing implications,” said William Nelson, director, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins. “Opportunities to advance science and further research help move us in a direction to yield positive outcomes.”
In these collaborations, joint steering committees consisting of representatives from each organization will determine the research projects that the collaboration will undertake. Researchers will also participate in annual symposia to discuss their joint research and evaluate potential new projects.
