NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Quebec's government will provide C$10 million (US$9.9 million) over four years to launch a new personalized cancer medicine collaboration between private and public partners that will aim to integrate biomarkers into cancer care and reduce treatment costs.
The new Personalized Medicine Partnership for Cancer also will raise C$11.1 million from private-sector partners, and it will be led by the Montreal-based protein biomarker developer Caprion Proteome, according to the partners in the effort.
Other members of the partnership include the Quebec Clinical Research Organization in Cancer (Q-CROC) and Oncozyme Pharma, Pfizer Canada, Sanofi Canada, and Telus Health. The partnership was developed through a collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Social Services and was started by the Quebec Strategy of Research and Innovation, a government-led effort to advance knowledge and speed the development of personalized medicine toward the clinic.
The PMPC will use genomic, proteomic, bioinformatic, and information technology to develop and then use biomarkers and targeted treatment strategies for lung, colon, and breast cancers in the clinic.
"The sequence of our genome or the profile of the proteins in our blood can be used to accurately predict disease progression or treatment outcome," Martin LeBlanc, president and CEO of Caprion Proteome, said in a statement. "Our partnership will integrate advanced technology platforms with clinical research to accelerate the development and clinical deployment of novel personalized healthcare solutions."