AstraZeneca has hired the Sarah Cannon Research Institute (SCRI) to work on cancer drug trials in the US.
The contract – financial terms of which were not provided – will see the Nashville, Tennessee-based institute leverage a trial and health record data integration system - developed in a separate collaboration with Genospace – to accelerate recruitment in AstraZeneca’s cancer trials.
SCRI said the tech will enable the management connecting more than 1,300 physicians who are providing access to clinical trials across multiple tumor types at more than 250 locations in 24 states across the US.
CEO Dee Anna Smith said, “Our collaboration with AstraZeneca has the potential to accelerate our mutual efforts to bring novel therapies to more people with cancer, through more physicians, across even more communities.”
Michele Sample, vice president, clinical operations, oncology R&D, AstraZeneca, framed the partnership as part of an effort to improve accessibility to trial participation.
“Working with SCRI to enhance US enrolment and streamline clinical trial data collection is a tremendous opportunity to increase the diversity of clinical trial participants in the US and accelerate clinical trial delivery timelines. Our ambition is to bring new treatments to all patients more efficiently.”
This is in keeping with other efforts by SCRI. Last year, for example, the organization formed a joint venture with former US Oncology Research to expand clinical trial access across the country.
According to the institute the partnership has conducted around 750 first-in-human clinical trials since its inception.
News of the collaboration comes just weeks after AstraZeneca announced plans to increase capacity for the production of cancer drug candidates for clinical trials in the US.
The Anglo-Swedish drug firm said it would invest $300 million in a new facility in Rockville, Maryland to launch its life-saving cell therapy platforms in the US for critical cancer trials and future commercial supply.
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