CRI, MedImmune partner to advance cancer immunotherapy research

The Cancer Research Institute (CRI), the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research and MedImmune, the global biologics arm of AstraZeneca, today announced that they have signed a collaboration agreement to advance the research of immunotherapy in cancer. Specifically, the research will focus on clinical trials to test novel combinations of immunotherapies, including three investigational monoclonal antibodies from MedImmune's pipeline.

Therapeutic strategies that seek to recalibrate and amplify a patient's immune system to better recognize and attack cancer are quickly gaining momentum. In the last few years, approvals of this new class of treatments called immunotherapy have laid a strong foundation for a new wave of more effective immune system-based drugs that will offer greater clinical benefit for a larger percentage of cancer patients.

"We are just beginning to scratch the surface of the immune system's potential as a new tool in cancer treatment," said Jonathan Skipper, PhD, executive director of Technology Development at the Ludwig Institute. "By identifying and evaluating new combinations of treatments, we aim to facilitate the development of a more powerful generation of smarter immunotherapy drugs to manage cancer patients' disease over the long term."

The Ludwig Institute and CRI will conduct trials of cancer immunotherapy combinations using three investigational monoclonal antibodies that MedImmune will provide to CRI and the Ludwig Institute from its product pipeline, combined with other priority agents available to the CRI/Ludwig portfolio or potentially accessed through additional partnerships. The MedImmune agents include the CTLA-4 blocking antibody tremelimumab, an OX40 receptor agonist antibody, and a B7-H1 (or PD-L1) blocking antibody. These antibodies modify regulatory checkpoints of the immune system, and are able to increase the body's immune response to cancer. In addition to the combination trials, MedImmune will continue its original development plan for the three agents, which are currently being studied in pre-clinical and clinical studies.

"We are fortunate to partner with MedImmune to incorporate three of its promising immunotherapies into our portfolio of cutting-edge clinical research and development. Our goal is to utilize the expertise of our global network of clinicians and scientists to identify new immunotherapy combinations and to launch important clinical studies that might not have happened otherwise, helping to bring more effective treatments to patients sooner," said Adam Kolom, managing director of CRI's Cancer Vaccine Acceleration Fund, a venture philanthropy fund that makes non-profit-motivated investments to support the costs of innovative immunotherapy clinical trials.

Different cancer immunotherapies are designed to achieve distinct, yet potentially complementary effects on the immune system. Developing treatments that use combinations of immunotherapies could, therefore, enable scientists to attack a particular cancer on multiple fronts and decrease the chances of immune escape.

"This collaboration is an innovative way to advance immunologic therapies and uncover optimal treatments for patients with cancer," said Edward Bradley, MD, senior vice president and head of MedImmune's Oncology Innovative Medicines Unit. "By joining forces in the early stages of clinical development, MedImmune can leverage the extensive experience and synergy of these premier cancer research institutions to expand its portfolio of clinical-stage immune-active molecules."