Cancer Research UK joins European precision cancer medicine trial consortium
Cancer Research UK has joined the PRIME-ROSE project, a Europe-wide effort to boost patient access to precision cancer medicine (PCM).
- June 26 2023
The PRIME-ROSE* consortium consists of 24 partners, including nine beneficiaries and 15 associated partners who will come together over the course of five years and work with regulators, policymakers, healthcare providers and patient advocacy groups to implement evidence-based PCM in routine clinical practice.
Approved by the European Commission**, PRIME-ROSE aims to bring together a network of similar clinical trials which are being implemented to broaden patient access to a wider range of innovative PCM treatments.
Cancer Research UK’s Centre for Drug Development, alongside the University of Manchester, are associate partners in the PRIME-ROSE consortium and represent the UK as the lead organisations running the DETERMINE trial.
The DETERMINE trial*** is a PCM platform trial open to adult, young adult and paediatric patients with any rare cancer type. Its unique design means that any treatment which appears to be working for patients on the trial will be submitted for review by the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF)**** The intention is that the CDF team, working with NHS England Clinical Policy team, will then decide whether a period of data collection in the CDF is appropriate to assess if the drug could be used as a routine treatment option on the NHS for patients with this cancer type.
The cross-country collaboration provided by PRIME-ROSE will enable data aggregation and analysis from multiple trials which is important when working with rare cancers where amassing significant amounts of data is a challenge.
The Director of Cancer Research UK’s Centre for Drug Development, Dr Nigel Blackburn, said: “We are delighted to be joining a consortium of partners who share our drive to make potentially life-saving precision medicine drugs accessible to patients who need them.
“This provides an excellent opportunity to foster collaboration between our DETERMINE trial and similar trials across the EU, gathering vital data to support applications to make precision medicine drugs available to more patients in the UK.”
Dr Matthew Krebs, Chief Investigator for the DETERMINE trial at The University of Manchester and The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, said: “DETERMINE is an important new trial in the PCM space in the UK and provides crucial opportunity to explore the use of existing medicines in new cancer indications. Our collaboration with European colleagues within the PRIME-ROSE consortium will help speed up assessment of the role of these treatments across Europe and, together with regulating agencies, provide potential to bring new life -prolonging treatment options to patients with rare cancers.”
ENDS
For media enquiries contact Ellie Bennett in the Cancer Research UK press office on 020 3469 5370 or, out of hours, on 07884 466 868.
Notes to editor
*Precision Cancer Medicine Repurposing System Using Pragmatic Clinical Trials
**The project is being funded by the European Commission Horizon Europe Mission on Cancer (grant no. 101104269)
***DETERMINE is led by the University of Manchester and is sponsored and managed by Cancer Research UK's Centre for Drug Development. It is run in collaboration with the University of Birmingham, the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and the Christie NHS Foundation Trust. To date, 8 drugs from Roche and Novartis have been committed to the trial.
www.cruk.org.uk/determine
About Cancer Research UK's Centre for Drug Development
Cancer Research UK has an impressive record of developing novel treatments for cancer. The Cancer Research UK Centre for Drug Development has been pioneering the development of new cancer treatments for 25 years, taking over 150 potential new anti-cancer agents into clinical trials in patients. It currently has a portfolio of 21 new anti-cancer agents in preclinical development, Phase I or early Phase II clinical trials. Six of these new agents have made it to market including temozolomide for brain cancer, abiraterone for prostate cancer and rucaparib for ovarian cancer. Two other drugs are in late development Phase III trials. www.cruk.org.uk/cdd
About Cancer Research UK
- Cancer Research UK is the world’s leading cancer charity dedicated to saving lives through research, influence and information.
- Cancer Research UK’s pioneering work into the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer has helped save millions of lives.
- Cancer Research UK has been at the heart of the progress that has already seen survival in the UK double in the last 40 years.
- Today, 2 in 4 people survive their cancer for at least 10 years. Cancer Research UK wants to accelerate progress and see 3 in 4 people surviving their cancer by 2034.
- Cancer Research UK supports research into the prevention and treatment of cancer through the work of over 4,000 scientists, doctors and nurses.
- Together with its partners and supporters, Cancer Research UK is working towards a world where people can live longer, better lives, free from the fear of cancer.
About the University of Manchester
The University of Manchester is a member of the prestigious Russell Group and one of the UK’s largest single-site universities. We have over 40,000 students, 12,000 staff and, with almost 480,000 former students from more than 190 countries, are home to the largest alumni community of any campus-based university in the UK. We are ranked in the top ten of the Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings globally; are the top UK University for graduate employability according to The Graduate Market in 2022 and no fewer than 25 Nobel laureates have either worked or studied here. Visit www.manchester.ac.uk for further information or https://www.manchester.ac.uk/discover/vision/ for our latest strategic vision.