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Category: In the News

POLITICO – Critics say Cancer Moonshot goals lack funding

Vice President Joe Biden released a Cancer Moonshot Task Force report Monday morning that lays out a roadmap for the next administration to continue his effort to achieve a decade’s worth of cancer progress in five years. But critics said the moonshot’s lofty goals won’t be met without major new funding that Congress has yet…

Bloomberg – Cancer ‘Moonshot' to Harness Microsoft's Computing Power: Report

The White House’s “moonshot” initiative to transform cancer care taps into industry giants from Microsoft and Amazon Web Services to ridesharing services Uber and Lyft, under a plan released Oct. 17.   Vice President Joe Biden presented to President Barack Obama the final report of the cancer moonshot task force—an interagency group forming the federal…

MedPage Today – FDA Gets Pushback on Move to Regulate Lab Developed Tests

Patient advocates, clinicians, entrepreneurs, and FDA’s top brass deliberated at a congressional briefing here Thursday over how much regulation is needed for lab developed diagnostic tests. Nobody questions the high standards and thorough review drugs undergo before reaching the market, said Jeff Shuren, MD, director of the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health.  …

Bloomberg BNA – Reliable Next-Gen Data May Avert FDA Review, Shuren Says

Formal FDA review may not be needed for interpreting results of advanced genetic screening tests if the associated databases contain reliable information, the agency’s device chief said.   Jeffrey E. Shuren, director of the Center for Devices and Radiological Health, made the remarks while explaining the Food and Drug Administration’s plan to regulate next-generation sequencing…

Clinical Informatics News – FDA’s Oncology Center of Excellence to Innovate Regulatory Approaches for Cancer Therapies

Cancer seems to touch most Americans, with an estimated 1.6 million diagnosed in 2016, and nearly 40% of Americans diagnosed at some point during their lifetime. That’s why speeding therapies to market is at the heart of the newly organized Oncology Center of Excellence (OCE), an initiative meant to support an integrated approach to evaluating products for cancer…

The Cancer Letter – Perspectives on Clinical Development of PD-1 Drugs

A conversation with The Cancer Letter and the experts listed below.   Jeff Abrams, NCI acting director for clinical research and associate director of the NCI Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program. Abrams wrote his responses with Elad Sharon.   Jeff Allen, president and CEO of Friends of Cancer Research,  an advocacy organization based in Washington, DC…

Pink Sheet – Duke's McClellan: Changing Drug Development Policy From Outside FDA

Executive Summary In an interview, Margolis Center for Health Policy’s Mark McClellan and Gregory Daniel talk about their recent move from Brookings to Duke, the breadth and impact of their work with FDA on drug development issues, and opportunities for potential future collaborations under PDUFA VI.     Mark McClellan, the former FDA commissioner and…

ASCO Post – Jeff Allen, PhD, Named Friends’ First CEO

Friends of Cancer Research (Friends) has announced that its Executive Director, Jeff Allen, PhD, will assume the role of President and CEO of the organization. Friends’ founder, Ellen ­Sigal, PhD, will continue with the organization as Board Chair. Dr. Allen will become the day-to-day lead of Friends’ scientific and policy programs and organizational operations, in…

OncLive – Dr. Gandara on How Lung-MAP Trial is Optimal for Patient Care

David R. Gandara, MD, director, Thoracic Oncology Program, professor, senior advisor to director, UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, treasurer, International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC), discusses the Lung Master Protocol (Lung-MAP) Trial and how it is an example of a rational clinical design that will impact patient care. Gandara shared this insight…

The Cancer Letter – No Moonshot Funds In House & Senate FY17 Appropriations Bills

The National Cancer Moonshot Initiative is not slated to receive funding in fiscal 2017—neither the House nor Senate appropriations bill includes the $680 million the White House proposed for Vice President Joe Biden’s project.   Despite great bipartisan breast-beating in support of boosting the NCI and NIH budgets, Congress has not dedicated funding for the…