NEW YORK, June 30, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Cancer Research Institute (CRI) and MD Becker Partners announced today the release of a joint report titled, "Cancer Immunotherapy: A Roundtable Discussion."
"As an organization that for nearly 60 years has focused on transforming patient care by advancing new immune system-based cancer therapies, CRI believes that we are entering a new and exciting era in harnessing the immune system to treat, control, and prevent cancer," said Jill O'Donnell-Tormey, Ph.D., executive director of the Cancer Research Institute.
The Cancer Research Institute and MD Becker Partners organized the cancer immunotherapy roundtable discussion to provide valuable information about the field from key opinion leaders, analysts, and industry executives. In total, a panel of 17 experts participated, exchanging data, knowledge, and experience through discussion and debate about the current status and the future outlook for cancer immunotherapy.
The roundtable started with general questions and topics about cancer immunotherapy posed by the organizers, followed by a comprehensive discussion among the various participants. The resulting publication also provides detailed descriptions of approximately 40 unique active cancer immunotherapies that are currently being tested in nearly 60 clinical trials, including almost a dozen that are in late-stage development.
"Since the early 1990s, cancer immunotherapy has provided hope to patients and physicians as a new treatment modality with limited side effects and superior efficacy," said Michael Becker of MD Becker Partners. "In view of recent product approvals, publication of positive randomized studies, and the large number of active immunotherapies currently in clinical trials, that hope is now becoming reality."
A complimentary copy of the full report can be requested using the following website link: http://bit.ly/cribecker2011
Roundtable experts participating in the report include:
- Sanjiv S. Agarwala, M.D., Temple University School of Medicine
- Reni Benjamin, Ph.D., Rodman & Renshaw, LLC
- David Berd, M.D., Cancer Treatment Centers of America
- Liz Bromley, Ph.D., Light Sciences Oncology, Inc.
- Thomas Davis, M.D., Celldex Therapeutics, Inc.
- Mark W. Frohlich, M.D., Dendreon Corporation
- James L. Gulley, M.D., Ph.D., F.A.C.P., National Cancer Institute
- Dirk Jäger, M.D., University of Heidelberg
- John M. Kirkwood, M.D., University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
- Larry W. Kwak, M.D., Ph.D., The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
- Reiner Laus, M.D., BN ImmunoTherapeutics/Bavarian Nordic
- Mark Monane, M.D., M.S., Needham and Company, LLC
- Michael Novod, Nordea Bank
- Joseph Pantginis, Ph.D., ROTH Capital Partners
- Andrew T. Parsa, M.D., Ph.D., University of California, San Francisco (UCSF)
- Col. George E. Peoples, M.D., F.A.C.S., Brooke Army Medical Center
- Jianda Yuan, M.D., Ph.D., Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
About the Cancer Research Institute
The Cancer Research Institute (CRI), established in 1953, is the world's only nonprofit organization dedicated exclusively to transforming cancer patient care by advancing scientific efforts leading to new and effective immune system-based strategies to treat, control, and prevent cancer. Guided by a world-renowned Scientific Advisory Council that includes four Nobel laureates and thirty-one members of the National Academy of Sciences, CRI has invested more than $200 million in support of laboratory and clinical research conducted by immunologists and tumor immunologists at leading medical centers and universities around the world, and has contributed to many of the key scientific advances that demonstrate the potential for immunotherapy to change the face of cancer treatment. Through its International Cancer Immunotherapy Symposium Series, Cancer Immunotherapy Consortium Annual Colloquia Series, CRI/LICR Cancer Vaccine Collaborative global clinical trials network, and Cancer Vaccine Acceleration Fund venture philanthropy program, CRI convenes, coordinates, and funds collaborations and outcome-driven dialogue among academics, industry scientists and decision makers, regulatory representatives, and health research associations focused on discovery, development, and refinement of new cancer immunotherapies. For more information, visit www.cancerresearch.org.
About MD Becker Partners
MD Becker Partners is a boutique management and strategy consulting firm focusing on both public and private companies in the life sciences industry. The firm also works with venture capitalists, institutional investors, and others that provide capital to these companies. As a strategic advisor and partner, MD Becker Partners provides a full range of services to help its clients increase visibility, unlock stakeholder value, and access resources to grow their business. To accomplish this, the firm integrates relations, strategy, and operational capabilities and apply them to carefully conceived and expertly enacted tactics. In early April 2010, MD Becker Partners published a 150-page industry report titled "Cancer Vaccine Therapies: Failures and Future Opportunities," which included an overview of the cancer immunotherapy market, interviews with several key opinion leaders, profiles of nearly 40 companies, and a discussion of the scientific, clinical, and commercial considerations for major industry participants. For more information, visit the firm's website www.mdbpartners.com and online newsletter at www.lifesciencedigest.com.