USCACA 2nd Annual Meeting (2010)

 

To learn more about the USCACA annual meeting, please go to www.uscaca.org/annualmeeting, or read the article below.

 

Reports from USCACA 2010 annual meeting

Immediately after the opening address by Dr. Michael Shi, Senior Director, Oncology, Novartis, Professor Shou-Ching Tang gave an outline of the USCACA mission and program. Dr. Tang exhibited the progress of the organization since its launch in 2009 and the diverse academic exchange, clinical trial network and patient education activities and plans.

 

 

Dr. Shu-Kui Qin, President of CSCO and Dr. Li Yan, Managing Director of USCACA signed the memorandum of understanding at the USCACA annual meeting, a milestone in China-US anti-cancer collaboration. Dr. Qin remarks, "USCACA will bring not only clinical cancer drug research and development experience, but also novel compounds from US- and Europe-based pharmaceutical companies. Such collaborations will undoubtedly create new opportunities for Chinese cancer centers to contribute to global cancer drug development." Dr. Yan comments, "We are very thrilled of forming this new collaboration with CSCO, one of the largest clinical oncology organizations in the world. We regard this strategic partnership as a critical component of USCACA's effort in establishing clinical trial network in both the US and China, and in promoting anti-cancer drug R&D in China. The CSCO-USCACA partnership will expedite novel cancer drug testing and approval in China so that our patients in China can get timely access to these life-saving drugs." Past ASCO president, Dr Dave Johnson applauded this agreement as one of the most important progresses in US-China collaboration in clinical oncology.  Past AACR president Dr. William N. Hait congratulated USCACA and CSCO for the important progress and expressed his high confidence in USCACA.

 

 

Dr. David Johnson, Board-of-Director of USCACA and past ASCO president and Dr. Shou-ching Tang, President of USCACA (2009-1010) were recognized for their contributions to USCACA founding.

Five of the recipients were the USCACA delegation members who visited Chinese phase I clinical centers in November, 2009. Dr. George Wilding and Dona Alberti from University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center; Dr. Anthony Tolcher and Gina Mangold from South Texas Accelerated Research Therapeutics; and Dr. Igor Puzanov from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine were recognized for their efforts in promoting early clinical trial collaborations.  Mrs. Muna Bhanji, senior vice president and general manager of oncology franchise, Merck & Co., Inc. is the only industry award recipient, recognized for her continuous support of USCACA.

 

 

A group of academic and industrial leaders from US and China joined a panel discussion on biomarker-driven personalized cancer drug development, chaired by Dr. Michael Shi, Senior Director, Oncology, Novartis. Panelists include Dr. Alan Barge, Vice President, Oncology Head, Astra Zeneca; Dr. William Hait, Sr. Vice President, Worldwide Head Oncology, Ortho Biotech, Inc., Johnson and Johnson; Dr. Mace Rothenberg, Senior Vice President, Clinical Development and Medical Affairs, Pfizer; Dr. Eric Rubin, Vice President, Oncology Therapeutic Area Head, Merck; Dr. Gerd Stehle, Vice President, Oncology, Boehringer Ingelheim; Mr. Christopher Ung, Vice President, Oncology, Quintiles; Dr. Shou-ching Tang, Professor, University of Minnesota; Past President, USCACA; Dr. Jason Jin, Sr. Vice President, Shanghai Biochip Co., Ltd (SBC); Dr. Jin Li, Dean of Medical Oncology, Shanghai Tumor Hospital, Fu Dan University; Secretary-General, Chinese Society for Clinical Oncology (CSCO); Dr. Ke Liu, Senior Medical Reviewer, US FDA; President, CAHON; Dr. Shu-kui Qing, President, CSCO; Dr. Yi-Long Wu, President, Guangdong General Hospital; President-elect CSCO.

 

The panelists discussed key opportunities and challenges of oncology drug development in China. Dr. Alan Barge presented lessons learned from the development of gefitinib (Iressa®) as an example of biomarker-based clinical research in China. China is the leading contributor of patient recruitment for the gefitinib Asian trial in treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (IPASS trial). AstraZenaca was extremely impressed with the high quality of patient care andcutting-edge science as well as the level of energy, enthusiasm and commitment of the participating investigators.  Dr. William Hait pointed out that from global pharmaceutical industry¡¯s prospective, the unmet medical needs, large patient population and growing economy make China a very attractive country for oncology drug development. However, key challenges exist in cancer epidemiology and regulatory process. He recommended that proper establishment of cancer registry and continued reform of regulatory process will be the key success factors. Dr. Mace Rothenberg  presented the development of crizotinib (cMET-ALK inhibitor) as a personalized medicine development in lung cancer. He described that proper tissue procurement and co-diagnostic development are critical in personalized medicine development. He emphasized that China is a very diverse country and addressing disparity in healthcare and practice standards among different regions will improve future drug development in China.  Dr. Eric Rubin discussed rationalized combination therapy in cancer treatment. The panelists also discussed the cost effectiveness issues when using combination of new drugs in developing countries such as China. Dr. Gerd Stehle used his personal experience in traditional Chinese medicine and therapy training and described BI¡¯s development strategy in China. Dr. Bin Peng, Head of Oncology Translational Medicine in China, outlined Novartis initiatives in early proof-of-concept trials in China. Mr. Christopher Ung, Dr. Jason Jin and Professor Yi-Long Wu discussed biomaker testings in China to support oncology drug development and the diagnostic test regulation status in China.   Drs. Jin Li, Ke Liu, Shu-kui Qing also discussed the status of regulatory process in China and the prospective changes of SFDA regulation in China.

Following the one-hour panel discussions, Dr. Shou-Ching Tang outlined the proposed USCACA workshop with SFDA and CSCO in conjunction with ChinaTrials Conference in November, 2010.  Representatives from academia, industry and government agencies will continue the dialogue, share the vision, and establish the collaborative framework to expedite oncology drug development in China.

 

 

U.S. Chinese Anti-Cancer Association (USCACAÃÀÖп¹¡ã©Ð­»¡¡ì¢) is a fast-growing non-profit professional organization founded in 2009. With 400 elite members from the U.S. academia, industry and government, USCACA facilitates collaboration among cancer researchers and physicians in the United States and China. Our current focus is on expediting novel cancer drug development by fostering clinical trial networks, sharing best practices and knowledge of clinical trial, and providing education and training opportunities. USCACA collaborates with Chinese Anti-Cancer Association (CACA Öй¡¡ì²¿¹¡ã©Ð­»¡¡ì¢), Chinese Society for Clinical Oncology, and other professional associations. Our mandate is to improve cancer treatment through research, education, and collaboration.