The Triangle’s two major cancer centers didn’t make the list, but GlaxoSmithKline has lined up six other major global research institutions to collaborate on research into new ways to fight cancer using a mix of drugs.

It’s the “new wave” of research, a GSK spokesperson says.

GSK (NYSE: GSK) on Thursday announced the formation of the Oncology Clinical and Translational Consortium, or OCTC. 

The members are:

  • Gustave Roussyin France
  • The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston
  • The Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York
  • The  Netherlands Cancer Institute
  • The Princess Margaret Cancer Centre at the University Health Network in Toronto
  • The Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology in Spain

Financial details of the consortium weren’t disclosed, but Melinda Stubbee, a spokesperson for GSK who is based at the company’s North American headquarters in RTP, said the company’s primary financial contribution at this point is to help pay the salary of a “collaboration manager” at each institution.

Case by case negotiation

Researchers will work jointly to test possible treatments and if one proves successful the partners will negotiate “on a case by case” basis, Stubbee explained. 

The centers selected were chosen for “international leadership and expertise in oncology research,” GSK said in the announcement. Members will have access to GSK’s own early-stage oncology research.

“Each OCTC member institution is recognized internationally as a leader in clinical and translational research,” said Rafael Amado, the head oncology R&D at GSK, in announcing the partnership. “The consortium together with GSK will design and execute research programs in a focused and expeditious way, allowing us to potentially develop new diagnostic tools and medicines to better treat cancer patients.”

The net of research being cast is a wide one, including preclinical work to Phase I and II trials with single and combination therapies, GSK noted.

GSK’s combination efforts

It’s clear tha GSK envisions combination therapies as a crucial part of its recently revamped research and development programs.

One of the “Discovery Performance Units” in the new R&D focus is addressing “novel combinations of oncology drugs” as part of the “new wave” in research, Stubbee explained.

WRALTechWire has reported on several combination efforts across GSK, two of which have oncology applications.

Two weeks ago, Pfizer and GSK said they will study the anti-cancer efficacy and safety of a combination of drugs – GSK’s Trametinib and Pfizer’s Palbociclib. The combination of drugs will be tested in a Phase 1 and 2 clinical trial. It will target patients with advanced/metastatic melanoma.

In another example, GSK and partner Genmab have applied for approval of a chronic lymphocytic leukemia treatment to be used in combination with a class of chemotherapy known as alkylators, as our Frank Vinluan reported recently. 

“The supplemental Biologics License Application filed with the Food and Drug Administration for the compound Arzerra is intended for the treatment of CLL patients who have not received treatment before and for whom treatment with chemotherapy drugs called fludarabines is not appropriate,” he reported in September.

“GSK said that the application is based on phase III results of Arzerra that studied the compound alone and in combination with GSK chemotherapy drug chlorambucil. The company is scheduled to present full results of the trials in December during the American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting.”

Plus a combination experiment includes GSK’s breast cancer drug Tykerb combined with a drug from rival Roche. The combination works better compared to using either drug as a standalone therapy, according to a recent study.

Axel Hoos, who is based in Philadelphia, is heading the new oncology consortium effort, according to Stubbee.

(By the way, when asked why neither UNC-Chapel Hill nor Duke University were included in the consortium, Stubbee noted that “there are a lot of great cancer centers out there.” She said she didn’t know if either UNC-Chapel Hill or Duke University were considered or, if so, why they weren’t chosen.)

[GSK ARCHIVE: Check out more than a decade of GSK stories as reported in WRALTechWire.]