Cancer network nears $20M for research - Washington Business Journal:

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Under the program, pharmaceuticalk companies provide grants to the networjk to have oncologists at its 21 member organizationd conduct research studiesof anti-cancef drugs. During the past four NCCN hassecured seven-figure grants from more than a half-dozenj pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, including area drug developers , , and Cephalon. Now, NCCN is lookinhg to add grants for clinical trials of cancere therapies in clinical developmeng to its oncologyresearch “We are in discussions with a couplwe of companies about pre-approval said William T. McGivney, the organization’sa CEO. “We’re getting [the researcj program] out of the pilot phase.
I think the prograkm has substantial potentialto expand.” McGivney said pharmaceuticaol companies like working with NCCN because it has developedx a track record of conducting studiesx and getting results published in leadingb medical journals. The network accomplishes both tasksx through its access to leading cancer specialists at its 21member institutions, which include Fox Chase Cancere Center in Philadelphia. Those oncologists, McGivney provide care to 160,000 new cancer patients a year, which representzs about 10 percent of all new cancer patients in theUnitexd States.
NCCN’s oncology research prograk also organizes scientific advisory boards to work with drug companieds to evaluate potential uses of promising therapeutic agentxs and provide advice on the best avenues of research to The program’s largest single grant to date came earliefr this year from Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, of Collegeville, which providex NCCN with $4 million to support clinical studies of Torisel. The drug has FDA approvalk to treat advanced renaplcell carcinoma.
Mikael Dolsten, president for researcbh and development atWyeth Pharmaceuticals, said the collaboration “represents a unique opportunity to benefit from the research expertise of NCCN and their membed institutions as we explore the potential of Torisekl in the treatment of a variety of solid While NCCN has in place a moratorium on addingf new members, it is considering lifting the ban and addinhg new cancer centers in both the United States and in other partz of the world. Such an McGivney said, would allow NCCN’s oncolog research program to get involverd in internationaldrug studies.
a nonprofit organization, was formed in 1995 primarilh to improve the quality of care beingg delivered tocancer patients. Member institutions created clinical practice guidelines for use by patientssand doctors. The McGivney said, also gave cancer centerd a way to band together tobattle managed-care companiexs which, in the early 1990s, were becoming more aggressiv e in dictating what type of care they wouldd cover. Today, McGivney NCCN’s Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncologhy are the recognized standard clinical policy and used forcoverager decision-making by the Medicais and Medicare programs and many private insurers.