A Win-Win in Cancer Research: Bristol-Myers Squibb

Opportunity

How do you make faster progress in a siloed field? At PICI, we’ve flipped the traditional research model on its head and facilitate collaborations between industry and academia. When we launched, we knew we needed biotech and pharma partners to complement our capabilities and bring drugs, technologies and resources to the table. Early on we partnered with leading biopharma company Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS). Our shared goal: design and conduct innovative clinical trials in high-need areas to identify the best novel combinations in cancer immunotherapy.

How We Work Together

Starting with our PRINCE pancreatic cancer trial, we’ve seen the advantages of this partnership play out for patients. This non-traditional clinical trial is something that many biotech and pharma companies shy away from – but PICI doesn’t. We give companies like BMS the opportunity to explore novel combinations and drug scheduling that the pharma industry doesn’t always prioritize.

We brought in our top researchers in pancreatic cancer, biotech and nonprofit partners, and used our in-house clinical trial capabilities and regulatory expertise to launch this trial in less than six months. However, none of this would be possible without BMS’s fast and flexible approach to collaboration and its expertise in PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor development.

The results of the trial – and our collaborative efforts – show early promise for patients with pancreatic cancer. We recently released data that combining immunotherapy with chemotherapy shrank tumors in a majority of evaluable patients. We continue to make progress and recently completed enrollment for the phase 2 portion of the trial.

Looking Forward

In addition to PRINCE, we partnered with BMS on PICI’s first clinical trial MAHLER and a biomarker-driven trial AMADEUS, and are working together on other trials that will launch in the coming months. We also have a shared interest in PD-1 resistance and bringing immunotherapy to “cold” tumors, and will continue to explore new approaches together.

We collaborate with many biotech and pharma partners to leverage the pipeline of immunotherapies, quality data, resources and expertise to get immunotherapy treatments to more patients faster.