Sarah Cannon Research Institute and AstraZeneca Partner

Sarah Cannon Research Institute (SCRI) and AstraZeneca (AZ) announced a collaboration in the field of personalized medicine to support development of new AstraZeneca oncology compounds. Specifically, the parties will work together on molecular profiling to classify tissue based upon genetic profiles for the purpose of treating cancers and predicting response to therapy.

“Through our research, we know how vital and impactful individualized treatment options are for patients battling this complex disease,” said Dee Anna Smith, chief executive officer of SCRI. “By partnering with AstraZeneca, we are expanding opportunities to accelerate drug development and deliver more targeted therapies to patients who urgently need them.”

Under the agreement, SCRI will work with AstraZeneca to identify potential patients for clinical trials and help explore biomarkers that predict response to specific treatments. In addition, SCRI’s enhanced relationship with AstraZeneca will provide clinical program development leadership, medical expertise and oversight, and operational contract research organization (CRO) trial management for early phase clinical development of multiple oncology compounds.

“Building upon this unique collaboration with SCRI allows us to continue honing our capabilities to deliver high quality research in a timely and cost-effective manner,” said Vice President of Early Clinical Development for AstraZeneca, Professor Andrew Hughes. “Through this cutting-edge program design, we can rapidly and effectively implement clinical trials with greater access to a network of cancer patients for enrollment.”

AstraZeneca is one of the initial participants in SCRI’s molecular profiling program, which is part of Sarah Cannon’s broader personalized medicine initiative across the United States and United Kingdom. SCRI and AstraZeneca originally entered into an agreement to develop novel oncology compounds in 2010.