Adaptive Clinical Trial Design Provides A More Cost Effective, Efficient, and Patient-Centric Approach to Clinical Development

Los Angeles, Calif. – (October 28, 2020) Patient advocacy organization, Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCAN) has announced plans to collaborate with the global healthcare company, Novartis,  to accelerate pancreatic cancer therapies to market through PanCAN’s adaptive clinical trial platform, Precision PromiseSM. PanCAN’s Precision Promise aims to revolutionize the clinical development paradigm in pancreatic cancer by enabling a faster, more efficient, and patient-centric approach to developing new treatment options and improving outcomes for pancreatic cancer patients.

 

Pancreatic cancer is the world’s toughest cancer with an overall five-year survival rate of just 10 percent. It is currently the third leading cause of cancer-related death in the U.S., underscoring the urgent need for new treatment options and research discoveries in this space.

 

“Traditionally, clinical trial designs have been slow to evaluate new treatment options, but with more than 57,000 Americans expected to be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer this year, it’s clear that patients just can’t wait,” said Julie Fleshman, JD, MBA, PanCAN’s president and CEO. “By initiating this partnership with Novartis, we hope to accelerate progress in the field and discover meaningful new treatment options for the patient population.”

 

“At Novartis Oncology, our focus is on the development of transformative medicines that address some of cancer’s most difficult treatment challenges,” said Jeff Legos, Senior Vice President and Head of Oncology Drug Development.  “We share PanCAN’s goal of accelerating the drug development process and recognize the urgency and need for people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. We look forward to learning how the innovations that are the basis of the PanCAN adaptive clinical trial platform will help us reimagine medicine and achieve our common goal: to deliver more for patients.”

 

PanCAN’s novel clinical trial platform is designed to more efficiently test new therapies, including potential new drug combinations from Novartis, for their effectiveness in treating patients with pancreatic cancer by requiring fewer patients to understand if a potential new therapy is working. The statistical design of Precision Promise was led by renowned statistician Dr. Donald Berry (Berry Consulting), who designed the I-SPY breast cancer trials and has over 400 peer-reviewed publications.  Through a collaboration that involves PanCAN, leading pancreatic cancer scientists and clinicians, Berry Consulting and industry partners, with guidance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Precision Promise represents a platform that can accelerate late stage development by up to two years.

 

About the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network
The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCAN), a 501©3 nonprofit organization, is dedicated to fighting the world’s toughest cancer. In our urgent mission to save lives, we attack pancreatic cancer on all fronts: research, clinical initiatives, patient services and advocacy. Our effort is amplified by a nationwide network of grassroots support. We are determined to improve outcomes for today’s patients and those diagnosed in the future.

 

Learn more at pancan.org. Follow the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.