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Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy
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Accomplishments

Success doesn’t mean that we’ll never have to worry about cancer again. It means we won’t have to fear it.

Our ambition is to radically change the way research is done – and turn all cancers into curable diseases. So we created a new game-changing approach. We assembled a unique constellation of the top minds in the field to make big bets, conduct bold research and create the best outcomes to leverage the promise of immunotherapy. In just a few short years, we’ve celebrated numerous crucial milestones.

We Made Progress in 2019 Working Alongside Partners in Academia, Nonprofit and Industry

In just over three years, we’ve been hard at work, transforming the way cancer research is done to save lives. Our progress speaks for itself. Take a look at our 2019 Annual Report to see what we’ve achieved over the past year.

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A Cancer First: Patients Treated Using CRISPR/Cas9 Gene-Editing Technology

A PICI-backed research team at Penn, in partnership with Tmunity Therapeutics, showed that genetically-edited immune cells can “survive and thrive” after being infused into cancer patients. This is the first-ever clinical trial testing this approach in humans in the U.S. Findings were published in February 2020 in Science.

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A Data-driven Approach to Decode Metastatic Triple Negative Breast Cancer

In January 2020, we kicked off our TRIBUTE study to identify the biomarkers that can predict who will respond to this treatment and determine whether the cancer is advancing.

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We Enabled the Formation of Cell Therapy Company, ArsenalBio

What began in conversation during a PICI retreat between PICI investigators E. John Wherry, Alex Marson and Kole Roybal became the formal launch of ArsenalBio. They’re improving T cell therapies to fight a broader range of cancers more effectively.

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Early Results from our PRINCE Trial Show Promise in Pancreatic Cancer

In a groundbreaking clinical trial, our scientists found that combining immunotherapy with chemotherapy shrank tumors in a majority of advanced pancreatic cancer patients. These results demonstrate the success of our collaborative model for a high-need cancer.

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We Formed a Cancer and Diabetes Research Initiative with JDRF, Helmsley Charitable Trust

We brought together cancer and type 1 diabetes researchers to better understand and prevent autoimmunity following cancer immunotherapy – the first time leaders from these two specialties have come together to explore the intersection of these chronic diseases.

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We Invest in the Rising Stars of Cancer Immunotherapy

So far we’ve awarded talented young researchers more than $10 million in funding, along with the opportunity to train with top PICI scientists. We also conduct retreats to foster collaboration among select early career researchers. We have supported 49 early career researchers to date.

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We Partnered with PsiOxus Therapeutics on a Virus-Based Gene Therapy

Solid tumors have historically been resistant to immunotherapy. We are investigating the use of PsiOxus’ proprietary T-SIGn platform to activate the immune system in a new way to treat these tough cancers.

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