Advinus Therapeutics and Moffitt Cancer Center announced a strategic partnership to advance the latter's discoveries to the clinics. Moffit Cancer Center has two promising targeted cancer therapies (Rb:Raf-1 disruptor and ROCK inhibitor) developed by Moffitt scientists are selected as the first set. The synergistic relationship is aimed at accelerating the translation of novel treatments for cancer from lab to clinic. Another potential dimension of the collaboration includes performing early stage clinical trials at Moffitt with various oncology drugs provided by Advinus.

Moffit Cancer Center has stated that the Rb:Raf-1 disruptor holds great clinical potential because disruption of the Rb:Raf-1 interaction leads to inhibition of cellular signaling pathways involved in cell growth, blood vessel creation, and the spread of cancer cells. Similarly, the ROCK (Rho-associated protein kinase) inhibitor may have significant patient value because expression of its target ROCK1 is significantly higher in breast tumor tissue than normal tissue and is associated with aggressive disease, the spread of cancer cells and poorer prognosis.

Advinus has launched a Special Purpose Vehicle incorporated as a separate legal entity, Advinus Canada, with the aim of using its pre and early clinical expertise to advance discovery programs primarily from academia. The aim behind doing so is to establish a globally networked model for innovation for efficient progression of the programs to the clinic and eventually the patient and to create a new benchmark for ROI. Advinus has selected the Rb-Raf and ROCK programs from Moffitt's Chemical Biology and Molecular Medicine program as a part of the first set of programs to progress in 2013.

"The new era of pharmaceutical research and development is going to witness innovative models for globally networked partnerships that will extract the best each partner has to offer," said Dr. Rashmi Barbhaiya, chief executive officer and managing director of Advinus. "The Moffitt-Advinus collaboration is established along these lines with an aim to identify novel drug candidates to meet clinical needs and generate a benchmark for return on investment for pharmaceutical research and development."

"We are delighted to embark on this exciting partnership with Advinus to leverage their skills and expertise to advance Moffitt therapies towards commercialization for improved patient care. This partnership is ripe for future growth and expansion to include other therapeutic technologies made by our internationally renowned scientists," said Jarett Rieger, director of Moffitt's office of Technology Management and Commercialization.

Located in Tampa,USA, Moffitt is one of only 41 National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers. With more than 4,200 employees, Moffitt has an economic impact on the state of nearly $2 billion.