Boehringer Ingelheim and MD Anderson Cancer Center join forces to discover new treatment approaches for pancreatic cancer

Companies to identify new therapeutic concepts, biomarkers and develop breakthrough medicines to treat pancreatic cancer.

Pancreatic cancer accounts for four percent of cancer deaths worldwide (330,000 people) and is the seventh most common cause of death from cancer. Pancreatic cancer is anticipated to become the second leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States before 2030. Newly diagnosed patients have a median survival of less than one year, and a 5-year survival rate of only 3–5%. PDAC is one of the most lethal of cancers due to its late detection and resistance to available standard-of-care therapy. Effective medicines directed against PDAC are therefore urgently needed.

"We are excited to be able to work with the leading cancer research and care institution in the world to develop therapies for patients with this devastating cancer," said Clive Wood, senior corporate vice president of Discovery Research at Boehringer Ingelheim. "This partnership is a perfect match because it combines MD Anderson's outstanding capabilities in preclinical concept validation and clinical testing with Boehringer Ingelheim's strength in developing innovative medicines." The collaboration will focus on identifying and developing therapeutic concepts in novel target areas as well as identification of biomarkers that can accurately identify patients who would respond to potential new therapies. "At MD Anderson, we have created integrated platforms that will enable the discovery of more effective therapeutics for cancer patients," said Timothy Heffernan, executive director and co-leader for MD Anderson's Center for Co-Clinical Trials. "This alliance combines expertise in cancer genetics and translational medicine with outstanding drug discovery and development and it has great potential to conquer devastating diseases like pancreatic cancer."