Roche is the first pharmaceutical company included in the national clinical study in cancer precision medicine called IMPRESS-Norway.
IMPRESS-Norway is a national clinical trial in precision oncology. Approved drugs will be used to treat new cancer indications (“off label”) based on the molecular profile of the patient’s tumour. The success of IMPRESS-Norway is dependent on molecularly targeted drugs contributed by pharmaceutical companies. Roche is the first company to officially join IMPRESS-Norway. The company will contribute eight different medicines and provide a diagnostic gene test through its subsidiary Foundation Medicine.
“Positive and important news that Roche wishes to contribute their resources. Now, this will be a joint investment in both diagnostics and treatment, so that precision medicine for advanced cancer disease can be offered at all hospitals in Norway. We are very happy that Roche wishes to participate in this initiative,” commented Egil Støre Blix, oncologist at the Cancer Department at the University Hospital of North Norway and member of the Trial Management Committee at IMPRESS-Norway.
IMPRESS-Norway is in dialogue with several other pharmaceutical companies about contributing cancer medicines. These companies have also joined CONNECT, the newly established public-private partnership initiated to accelerate the implementation of precision medicine for cancer patients in Norway (see the fact box below for a complete list of CONNECT Founding Partners).
“The CONNECT partnership and IMPRESS-Norway are important milestones in the implementation of personalised medicine and will drive the development of a more personalised health service,” commented Ingvild Hagen, Area Owner for Personalized Healthcare in Roche. “We hope that in signing the IMPRESS agreement, we are motivating other companies to do the same. To realise the potential of this project, we are dependent on as many partners as possible. We are definitely stronger together!”
Oslo Cancer Cluster has played an active role in setting up the initiatives IMPRESS-Norway, CONNECT, InPreD and INSIGHT, to gather the Norwegian oncology community with the common goal of getting cancer precision medicine faster to Norwegian patients.
“Cancer is a genetic disease. However, we often treat according to where in the body the cancer is discovered and not based on the genetic profile. This changes now when technology and medicine are merging in precision medicine. Roche is one of the companies that has come furthest in this development. Their involvement in IMPRESS and CONNECT is highly appreciated. This is an important milestone, and we look forward to more companies following their example,” commented Ketil Widerberg, General Manager, Oslo Cancer Cluster.
Precision medicine is about providing the right treatment for the right patient at the right time. There are many cancer therapies today that can be targeted towards specific molecular changes in the cancer cells. Patient access to molecular diagnostics is one of the prerequisites for the successful implementation of precision medicine.
“The establishment of broad genetic testing is essential to offer patients our treatments in clinical studies and IMPRESS drives the implementation of this in Norway. For patients whose tumour tissue isn’t available, the contribution from Roche through Foundation Medicine is of great importance to examine whether blood can replace tissue when identifying relevant biomarkers,” commented Randi Hovland, Head of Section for Clinical Genetics at Haukeland University Hospital and member of Trial Management Committee in IMPRESS-Norway.
IMPRESS is based on the DRUP (Drug Rediscovery Protocol) trial in the Netherlands, a precision medicine trial evaluating the effects of a broad portfolio of precision treatments based on the molecular profile of the patient’s tumour. The benefits of this study were highlighted by Emile Voest, Medical Director of The Netherlands Cancer Institute, at the recent Cancer Crosslinks. The learnings from IMPRESS and related trials will be discussed in CONNECT and are important to develop novel implementation models for cancer precision medicine.
Please get in touch with Jutta Heix, Head of International Affairs at Oslo Cancer Cluster, to learn more about our initiatives in precision medicine and how to join CONNECT.