Lilly Announces Extension of Cancer Research Collaboration with Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Eli Lilly and Company announced a three-year extension of its cancer research collaboration with Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Since 2015, scientists from Lilly and Dana-Farber have been working together on pre-clinical and clinical studies, molecular analyses of patient samples and the design and conduct of clinical trials to help advance cancer care.

“We are pleased to announce the extension of our collaboration with Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. This collaboration provides an opportunity for scientists and clinicians at a premier cancer center to bring creative new ideas about the underlying science and how this might drive future clinical opportunities for multiple Lilly therapeutic candidates,” said Levi Garraway, M.D., Ph.D., senior vice president, global development and medical affairs, Lilly Oncology. “The extension will provide continued funding for initial testing of several such ideas in the lab and in the clinic, which could eventually inform new treatment avenues for cancer patients.”

During the first three years of the collaboration, Lilly has been allowed access to expertise within Dana-Farber to further develop multiple pre-clinical and clinical compounds in Lilly’s pipeline, including new indications, novel combinations, and biomarker strategies. This collaboration has fostered fresh ideas, strong communication and important feedback in pre-clinical and clinical study design, process and execution.

“Our collaboration with Lilly has provided the opportunity to bridge academia and industry at the early stages of cancer research,” said Barrett Rollins, M.D., Ph.D., chief scientific officer of Dana-Farber. “Our shared approach has helped speed learning across labs and disease groups, and serves to enable and accelerate the testing of new hypotheses. This collaboration is important as we consider the potential impact the research may have on cancer care.”

Under the agreement, Dana-Farber researchers were, and will continue to be, granted permission to conduct independent pre-clinical and clinical studies on select Lilly compounds. All compounds evaluated through this collaboration will continue to be fully owned by Lilly. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.