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Melanoma Therapeutics Foundation
NEED – ACCELERATED DEVELOPMENT
Although a number of organizations exist that focus on, serve
to educate the public about, or assist in melanoma research,
the Melanoma Therapeutics Foundation is unique with its singular
focus on advancement of therapeutics to address melanoma as
a disease.
Development of novel cancer therapeutics often requires a
long period of time and extensive financial investment to bear
fruit. This is because drug discovery and development is a
multidisciplinary process that requires expertise in diverse
fields to focus on a single problem. Because much of the initial
work in genetic and biological research is done in academic
institutions, there is also a need to develop solid relationships
with these organizations and scientific experts. In addition,
extensive experience with the drug development process and
the pharmaceutical industry in general is essential for success
of any endeavor focused on bringing novel therapeutics to market
to benefit cancer patients. The differences between the expertise
and focus of these two major disciplines – academic research
and drug development – are large enough to create a gap
that results in delays in translation of cutting edge research
into novel therapeutics. To address this translational gap,
the Melanoma Therapeutics Foundation is started with direct
involvement of leading basic and clinical researchers at foremost
academic institutions – UCSF – and seasoned, successful
drug discovery and development experts from major biotechnology
and pharmaceutical companies. This strategy is built to bridge
the aforementioned gap and to accelerate the timeline for discovery
and development of novel therapeutics to treat cancer. With
an established network of academic and clinical researchers,
the Foundation expects to gain rapid approval of novel drugs
and rapidly adopt their use to treat cancer patients.
LINKS
FDA, Food and Drug Administration http://www.fda.gov/
CEDR, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research http://www.fda.gov/cder/
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