Pharmacia Gives $3.15 Million Grant to NCCN to Advance Innovative Cancer Research Collaboration

-- NCCN to study clinical applications of therapies in treatment of breast, gynecological, and other forms of cancer --

[PEAPACK, NJ] – Pharmacia Corporation today announced it has provided a $3.15 million grant to the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) for the development and review of clinical oncology research protocols and trials in breast, gynecological and other forms of cancer. The grant will provide funding for clinical research to identify treatment advances that improve patient survival and, ultimately, quality of life.

“We are pleased to partner with NCCN to advance rigorous studies of our key therapies to evaluate and determine their full therapeutic value for patients,” said Gabe Leung, group vice president of Global Oncology Franchise, Pharmacia. “Progress in cancer treatment can be accomplished only through innovative research and clinical trials. Pharmacia’s collaboration with NCCN will facilitate such exploration.”

“NCCN’s mission is to provide state-of-the-art cancer care through the study and evaluation of promising new treatments, and through programs that continuously explore the application of current and novel therapies across numerous cancer types. The grant from Pharmacia offers us a tremendous opportunity to meet both these objectives,” said Bill McGivney, NCCN’s chief executive officer. “Our collaboration will provide a forum for the open exchange of information to better define the clinical application for the use of two medications in a variety of cancer types.”

NCCN will conduct the studies through the NCCN Clinical Trials Network (CTN). CTN was created to facilitate clinical research through the streamlining and centralization of site identification and initiation processes. A particular focus of NCCN’s CTN is the establishment of collaborations with pharmaceutical and biotech companies.