Johnson & Johnson Innovation and Janssen Biotech have announced a three-year partnership with Dana-Farber Cancer Institute to research immuno-oncology therapies for lung cancer. During this time, scientists from Janssen will work to determine the clinical setting for immuno-oncology agents present in Janssen’s lung cancer studies at the Dana-Farber’s Belfer Institute for Applied Cancer Science.“We are thrilled to be working with the scientists at the Belfer Institute,” said Janssen Global Therapeutic head of the oncology area, Peter Lebowitz. “Their excellence in lung cancer translational research, which incorporates both tumor genetics and immunotherapy, will be critical to the development of personalized treatment options for patients in need.”
Researchers will utilize the Belfer Institute’s proprietary immuno-oncology lung platform and lung cancer disease expertise and try to detect rational immuno-oncology drug combination strategies and biomarkers, as well as characterize resistance mechanisms. The study also aims to acknowledge and validate novel targets for lung cancers.
“There is a growing recognition of the potential importance of immuno-oncology agents directed at a variety of cancers,” said Robert Urban, head of Johnson & Johnson Innovation, Boston. “Through our collaboration with the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, we will be able to increase the probability of success and decrease development times for our important immuno-oncology pipeline in the critical area of lung cancer.”
Janssen Biotech focuses its drug development research for diseases such as lung cancer based on “important unmet medical needs of our time in oncology, immunology, neuroscience, infectious diseases and vaccines, and cardiovascular and metabolic diseases.” One in every 13 men and one in every 16 women will develop lung cancer during their lifetime.