 Mumbai:
The University of Oxford and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) today
announced a new collaboration in cancer research to be
conducted through leading clinical centres in India.
With coordination from the university''s ''department
of clinical pharmacology'' and initial three-year funding
from GSK, the collaboration will establish the first
Indian cancer-trials network comprising a number of
leading Indian oncologists of major cancer centres.
The collaboration will enable the evaluation of new
cancer treatments for various cancer types including
gall bladder, liver and cervical cancers which are more
prevalent in India than in the west.
"India currently has one million cases of cancer
and this collaboration is further proof of progressive
policies being followed in India," says Dr Vinod
Raina, from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences,
New Delhi. "It is hoped that the network, through
these public funded regional cancer centres, will provide
a platform for cancer research with priority to carry
out research in cancers common in India. Indian patients
will now have the benefit of access to new anticancer
agents at a much earlier stage than in the past. The
initial emphasis will be on up gradation of already
existing research infrastructures and in setting up
standard operating procedures as per international standards."
The network''s management team will be led by Professor
David Kerr, Rhodes professor of cancer therapeutics
and clinical pharmacology at Oxford and director of
the UK''s National Translational Cancer Research Network
(NTRAC).
"We at Oxford are delighted to lead this unique
opportunity between Indian centres of clinical excellence
and a research-based company such as GSK," Professor
Kerr commented. "Much like NTRAC, the aim of Indian
network is to build a research infrastructure and workforce
capacity that will support the advancement of novel
anti-cancer therapeutics from the laboratory into the
clinic and to test their promise in each stage of clinical
trials, putting the network on a par with the best in
the world for conducting cancer trials."
"This collaboration offers benefit to cancer patients
in India who will now gain wider access to clinical
trials of potential new medicines," said Allen
Oliff, senior vice president and head of the GSK Centre
of Excellence for Drug Discovery responsible for cancer
therapy.
The senior specialist oncologists are based at the
following Indian centres:
GlaxoSmithKline is a leading global research-based
pharmaceutical and healthcare company.
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