PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS

OVERCOMING BARRIERS to EARLY PHASE CLINICAL TRIALS

"Overcoming Barriers to Early Phase Clinical Trials" Public-Private Partnership
On July 9, 2003, in the Dirksen Senate building on Capitol Hill, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Tommy Thompson, announced grant awards for six cancer centers chosen by the "Overcoming Barriers to Early Phase Clinical Trials" public-private partnership. The institutions selected for grants were Massachusetts General Hospital, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Washington University in St. Louis, University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, University of California Davis Cancer Center, and Ohio State Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Secretary Thompson summed up the magnitude of the public-private partnership: "These volunteers are critical to our research. The better we understand these diseases, the better we will be able to prevent them and the better we will be able to treat other patients affected by them. And because different people respond to treatments in different ways, we need more clinical volunteers - of all shapes and sizes and ages - in order to enhance and in order to improve our medical knowledge...These centers will implement and design new approaches to recruit more elderly and minority volunteers. And these grants open up a new front in our fight against cancer."

From left to right: HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson, Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA)

The American Association of Cancer Institutes (AACI) proposed the partnership, and Friends of Cancer Research (Friends) developed this groundbreaking collaborative effort between the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH), and five pharmaceutical companies: Aventis, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly & Company, GlaxoSmithKline, and Novartis. The partnership provides a total of $5.7 million to the six cancer centers in order to improve geriatric and minority patient access to early phase clinical trials. Click here for more information on the public-private partnership.

Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach, Director of the National Cancer Institute

Senators Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA), Wayne Allard (R-CO), Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-CO), Rick Santorum (R-PA), Arlen Specter (R-PA) and Representative William Lacy Clay (D-MO 1st) participated in the press conference. In addition, Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach, Director of the NCI and Amy McGuire, Executive Director of FNIH offered remarks. "Friends of Cancer Research and the National Institutes of Health Foundation have created a partnership to help us learn more about the barriers and obstacles [to clinical trials] and eliminate them so that we make it possible for more people to be able to benefit from the tremendous progress that has occurred by virtue of our investment in biomedical research," stated Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach.

Amy McGuire, Executive Director of the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health

Ms. Kimberly Lawler-Krain, Ms. Juanita E. Lyle, Mr. Stephan L. Walker, and Ms. Charlene Gaddy Wallace represented the strong support for the public-private partnership from a diverse cancer patient community. Their stories, which highlight obstacles to clinical trial participation, inspired Friends and FNIH to form the partnership. Ms. Lawler-Krain and Ms. Wallace spoke at the event. "It is so important for my community that I have the opportunity to share my story so others can learn from my experience and seek treatment in clinical trials," said Ms. Wallace. She concluded by advising minority patients to "play an active role in your health care. Ask questions, stand up, look it in the face and be proactive."

From left to right: Ms. Kimberly Lawler-Krain, Ms. Charlene Gaddy Wallace, Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach, Mr. Stephan L. Walker, Ms. Juanita E. Lyle