CONTACT US
Exciting News About Precision Promise
After four years of operation and key learnings, we recently made the decision to re-evaluate PanCAN Precision Promise to determine if there were opportunities to innovate and scale the study as well as create more operational efficiencies. Read our press release to learn more about the exciting next step for our adaptive clinical trial platform. And hear from PanCAN President and CEO Julie Fleshman.
Frequently Asked Questions
PanCAN launched the Precision Promise adaptive clinical trial in 2020 because
traditional clinical trial designs were slow to evaluate new treatment options for
pancreatic cancer patients. PanCAN Precision Promise was designed to more efficiently
test new therapies for their effectiveness in treating patients with pancreatic cancer
by requiring fewer patients to understand if a potential new therapy is working. The
platform is also designed to allow multiple investigational therapies to be tested
simultaneously.
Through the adaptive nature of the Precision Promise adaptive clinical trial design,
data is constantly monitored, and investigational treatment arms can be discontinued
if results do not look promising. This adaptive clinical trial design provides the
opportunity for new treatments to be approved more quickly than in traditional
trials. In addition to investigating potential new treatment therapies, Precision
Promise also investigates supportive care measures.
There are over 20 Clinical Trial Consortium sites across the United States.
After four years of operation, PanCAN underwent a strategic re-evaluation of Precision Promise in late 2023. It was a good time to evaluate the program to determine if there were opportunities to continue to innovate the study. While the study has been successful, we also wanted to see if there were ways to be more efficient.
The financial model for Precision Promise was dependent on a steady stream of new
investigational agents coming into the study. The last year has been a challenging
economic environment for pharma and biotech companies. So, we wanted to evaluate if a
collaboration or alliance with another organization could stabilize the financial model
by streamlining operations and efficiencies while still accomplishing the study
objectives. We are excited to announce that PanCAN made a strategic decision to
collaborate with GCAR (Global Coalition for Adaptive Research) and take advantage of the
strengths of both organizations to pursue the long-term sustainability of a new
pancreatic cancer clinical trial platform for patients.
The goals of the alliance are increased efficiency and scalability with GCAR sponsoring
the study and overseeing the operations, and PanCAN providing disease expertise and
relationships with the pancreatic cancer community. It brings together the strengths of
both organizations for patient benefit.
Learn more about what’s next for Precision Promise from PanCAN President and CEO Julie Fleshman.
Patients currently enrolled in Precision Promise will continue to be treated and followed by PanCAN until the study’s completion. Please speak to your study doctor and/or study team about any questions or concerns you have about your treatment or follow up.
If you or your loved one are in follow-up on Precision Promise, you will not notice a change. Please speak to your study doctor and/or study team about any questions or concerns you have about your follow up.
There are still patients being treated on Precision Promise, so at this point we can’t
comment on the timeline for the current study. Patients currently enrolled in Precision
Promise will continue to be treated and followed by PanCAN until the study’s completion.
GCAR will be the sponsor of the new study and will determine the timeline for the launch
of the new study.
GCAR (Global Coalition for Adaptive Research) is a non-profit organization who
specializes in sponsoring innovative trials, including master protocols and adaptive
platform trials. The organization has an impressive track record of operationalizing and
implementing new clinical trial designs that support more efficient, less costly drug
development. The relationship between PanCAN and GCAR spans many years, as GCAR’s CEO,
Dr. Meredith Buxton, played a key role in crafting the original Precision Promise
protocol.
GCAR is currently the sponsor of an adaptive clinical trial platform for glioblastoma
that is very similar to Precision Promise called GBM-AGILE. They also run other adaptive
studies in ovarian cancer and COVID-19.
PanCAN is thrilled to collaborate with GCAR, a likeminded non-profit organization, that
wants to expedite the discovery and development of treatments for patients.
We learned that an adaptive clinical trial platform does streamline and accelerate the
process of developing new drugs for pancreatic cancer. Determining if a drug works or
doesn’t work better than the current standard-of-care takes less time, less money, and
most importantly fewer patients, thereby making this an optimum path for the development
of new treatments for a highly aggressive but relatively rare disease like pancreatic
cancer. We are delighted GCAR will take advantage of these learnings and continue the
adaptive platform approach for pancreatic cancer drug development.
We confirmed that pancreatic cancer clinicians and researchers are remarkably
collaborative and that by working together, we can accomplish so much more than any of
us can by ourselves. The infrastructure we set up with Precision Promise has already
yielded advances, including supportive care publications on the causes of weight loss
and the importance of managing pain while treating pancreatic cancer patients. We will
continue to learn from the valuable samples and information gathered during Precision
Promise, and we will assist GCAR by using our ability to identify and convene pancreatic
cancer experts to contribute to the continuation of the adaptive platform approach as
applied to pancreatic cancer drug development.
PanCAN will continue to treat and follow patients currently enrolled in Precision
Promise until the study’s completion. GCAR will sponsor a next generation platform trial
with PanCAN as the patient advocacy partner. GCAR will oversee the operations of the new
study. The new study will build upon the valuable insights gained by PanCAN to date
through Precision Promise.
PanCAN’s unparalleled disease expertise, relationships with the pancreatic cancer
community, and PanCAN’s Patient Services program will continue to be pivotal to the new
study and ensure that patients understand their treatment options. PanCAN will continue
to connect with key stakeholders in the pancreatic cancer scientific and clinical
community related to the study, including introducing pharma and biotech companies to
GCAR who are interested in developing drugs in pancreatic cancer. PanCAN hopes in the
future to fund ancillary research projects related to the next generation platform trial
sponsored by GCAR.
Precision Promise, an adaptive clinical trial master protocol, has been established as a powerful model with the potential to accelerate new treatments for pancreatic cancer.
This alliance will optimize capability and efficiencies so PanCAN can continue to invest in other areas of unmet need across the pancreatic cancer research field.
Be part of our transformative work to innovate and improve the lives of pancreatic
cancer patients and their families. Every dollar you give makes progress possible. If
you’re interested in making a gift to support PanCAN, please contact Esther Roehm at
eroehm@pancan.org or 310-706-3307. We can’t do this without donors like you.
PRECISION PROMISESM is a service mark of Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, Inc.
