The immunotherapy platform at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and AbbVie have formed a three-year collaboration agreement that provides a framework for MD Anderson and AbbVie to choose and carry out preclinical and clinical studies evaluating new ideas in immuno-oncology.

AbbVie and MD Anderson will each assign two scientists to a joint scientific committee, which decides on projects to pursue. The collaboration will get underway with projects driven by AbbVie Biotherapeutics, AbbVie’s center of innovation in the San Francisco Bay Area. Future projects will draw from the portfolio of oncology programs across AbbVie’s oncology pipeline.

MD Anderson’s immunotherapy platform combines expertise and advanced technology for preclinical modeling, innovative clinical trials and immune monitoring before, during, and after treatment to better understand drug mechanisms and identify biomarkers to guide treatment. The platform works collaboratively with a select group of pharmaceutical companies and also is part of MD Anderson’s Moon Shots Program, a transdisciplinary initiative to accelerate development of new treatments and prevention programs deriving from scientific discoveries.

Source: AbbVie