Pfizer collaborates with Peter Mac in lung cancer research

Pharma News: Melbourne’s Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre scientists hope to gain new insights into what drives lung cancer, and how it responds to treatment, thanks to support from Pfizer’s Emerging Science Fund.

A new ‘tumour barcoding’ technique known as Single-cell Profiling and LINeage TRacking with expressed barcodes (SPLINTR), developed at the Peter Mac, will be applied to common variants of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

SPLINTR can identify and track over time patterns of gene expression that give certain tumour cells an advantage, helping them to become dominant within a cancer.

Tumour samples of specific lung cancers will be analysed this way, both before and after patients are treated with targeted drugs.

Professor Mark Dawson, whose lab led the development of SPLINTR, said the research could open a new window on the gene expression underpinning this cancer, and drivers of treatment resistance.

“We are excited to collaborate with Pfizer in this early-stage research which may point to new ways to extend treatment responses, and improve outcomes, for lung cancer patients,” Professor Dawson said.

Professor Ricky Johnstone, Executive Director Cancer Research at Peter Mac, said it was fantastic to see industry providing direct support for early-stage research.

“We are delighted that Pfizer – through its Emerging Science Fund – is helping to address really important and fundamental questions in cancer as this is how we drive the development of new diagnostic and treatment options for our patients,” he said.

Anand Gautam, Executive Director, Emerging Science & Innovation, Asia  & Asia-Pacific (ANZ), Pfizer Worldwide R&D, told Health industry Hub “Pfizer’s Emerging Science Fund is a unique initiative to support early cutting edge science to identify or validate early novel drug targets. Our goal is to translate breakthrough science and novel technologies into medicines and vaccines that improve patients’ lives.

“As a company with a legacy in lung cancer R&D, we are excited to support the Peter Mac team in this early-stage program.”