Newswise — NEW YORK, May 23, 2017—The Cancer Research Institute (CRI), the world’s leading nonprofit organization dedicated exclusively to advancing scientific efforts to develop new and effective immunotherapies for all forms of cancer, announced today that data from four of its Anna-Maria Kellen Clinical Accelerator early-phase immunotherapy combination trials will be presented at the American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual meeting in Chicago on June 5, 2017.

The Anna-Maria Kellen Clinical Accelerator is a venture philanthropy and drug incubator program with a mission to harness the latest science of immunotherapy combinations. The current portfolio includes 12 clinical trials across 14 tumor types, led by world experts at centers of excellence throughout the U.S., E.U., and Australia. The four combination trials that will be featured at ASCO are sponsored and managed in partnership with another nonprofit group, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research.

“The Clinical Accelerator program taps into a global network of immunotherapy experts to identify the most promising combinations of existing and novel immunotherapies,” said Jill O’Donnell-Tormey, Ph.D., CEO and director of scientific affairs at the Cancer Research Institute.  “The unique program has access to a broad portfolio of drugs and targets with the hope of accelerating a cure to all cancers through immunotherapy research.”

Clinical Accelerator Data at 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting:

Phase I study to evaluate the safety and tolerability of MEDI4736 + tremelimumab in patients with advanced solid tumors

  • Monday, June 5, 2017, 8:00 AM – 11:30 AM, Hall A, Poster Board #164 Margaret K. Callahan, M.D., Ph.D., Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, First Author

Phase I study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of immunotherapy with tremelimumab and durvalumab in multiple myeloma patients receiving high dose chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplant (HDT/ASCT) + peripheral blood lymphocyte (PBL) reinfusion

  • Monday, June 5, 2017, 8:00 AM to 11:30 AM, Hall A, Poster Board #377a Alexander M. Lesokhin, M.D., Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, First Author

Phase I/II study of in situ vaccination with tremelimumab + intravenous (IV) durvalumab + poly-ICLC in patients with select relapsed, advanced cancers with measurable, biopsy-accessible tumors

  • Monday, June 5, 2017, 8:00 AM to 11:30 AM, Hall A, Poster Board #193b Craig L. Slingluff Jr., M.D., University of Virginial School of Medicine, First Author

Phase II study to evaluate safety and efficacy of MEDI4736 in glioblastoma (GBM) patients: an update

  • Monday, June 5, 2017, 1:15 PM – 4:45 PM, Hall A, Poster Board #284 David A. Reardon, M.D., Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, First Author

About the Cancer Research Institute

The Cancer Research Institute (CRI), established in 1953, is the world’s leading nonprofit organization dedicated exclusively to transforming cancer patient care by advancing scientific efforts to develop new and effective immune system-based strategies to prevent, diagnose, treat, and eventually cure all cancers. Guided by a world-renowned Scientific Advisory Council that includes three Nobel laureates and 26 members of the National Academy of Sciences, CRI has invested $336 million in support of research conducted by immunologists and tumor immunologists at the world’s leading medical centers and universities, and has contributed to many of the key scientific advances that demonstrate the potential for immunotherapy to change the face of cancer treatment. To learn more, go to cancerresearch.org

About the Anna-Maria Kellen Clinical Accelerator

The Anna-Maria Kellen Clinical Accelerator, the clinical research program of the Cancer Research Institute, leverages CRI’s partnerships with nonprofit organizations, pharmaceutical and biotech companies, and academic research and treatment centers worldwide, to provide scientists and clinicians with expertise in cancer immunotherapy access to resources they need to advance ambitious clinical and translational research ideas, while simulataneous solving for competitive and regulatory hurdles that would otherwise impede innovation. The trials are supported through funding from CRI’s venture philanthropy fund, and sponsored by one of CRI's clinical trial management partners. To learn more, go to cancerresearch.org/clinical-accelerator.