Dr. Bob Li, right, Physician Ambassador to China and Asia-Pacific from Memorial Sloan Kettering … [+]
How to compete with China has been a hot topic among US policymakers this year. And yet, collaboration between the two in the fight against cancer through clinical trials involving new treatments is one area that could lead to faster cures and save lives.
So said Dr. Bob Li, Physician Ambassador to China and Asia-Pacific from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK), at the US-China Business Forum organized by Forbes China and held at Forbes on Fifth in New York on August 9.
China and the US are No. 1 and No. 2 in the world in cancer deaths. What China brings to the table in a partnership is a large number of patients, as China not long ago was far behind the US in drug development. However, it has improved in this regard as well, said Li, a medical oncologist at MSK who specializes in lung cancer.
“With China on board, you have a population scale and an ability to reach patients who want to join trials,” Li said. “Combined data generation really speeds up the pace of curation.” Pre-agreement rules on intellectual property facilitate the process.
Li, a native of Shanghai, grew up in Sydney, attended the University of New South Wales and the University of Sydney and moved to New York eight years ago to join MSK. “Originally I planned to stay here for two years, come back to Australia and have a very good work-life balance,” he said.
Now, Li said, “There is no return date. I’ve said to my Australian friends and colleagues: ‘You’re not worried about saving a job or anything for me.’ I have had the great honor and opportunity to make many international contacts” for the MSK, he said.
Li’s title is the first awarded by the New York-based cancer center. “This signifies our willingness to reach out to China and the Asia-Pacific region to collaborate on cancer research and education to accelerate cancer cures,” he said.
Li has led MSK’s collaboration with the China Thoracic Oncology Group (CTONG), a leading collaborative group of more than 30 academic cancer centers in China, led by surgeon-scientist Dr. Yi-Long Wu; Wu has launched lung cancer drug trials with FDA approval at record speed, Li noted. The MSK-CTONG collaboration has called for international regulatory harmonization to accelerate cancer drug development and recently launched a US-China and international registration trial of Enhertu as a first-line therapy for patients with HER2-positive lung cancer. mutant.
Since 2018, the pair have expanded the availability of new drugs from the U.S. and other countries to China as Beijing made it easier for regulators to approve therapies for cancer patients there based on international data and paved the way for approvals possible simultaneous regulatory. of new therapies in both countries in the future. This is consistent with the US goal of Project Orbis, an initiative of the FDA Oncology Center of Excellence that provides a framework for the simultaneous submission and review of cancer products among international regulatory agencies, Li notes.
Ironically, Covid-19 has helped facilitate coordination through the widespread adoption of Zoom and other platforms. “It helps conduct clinical trials at a much faster rate,” he said.
In related news, Forbes China last week announced the 3rd Forbes China Healthcare Summit to be held virtually on August 26, 2022 in the US (August 27, 2022 in China). The free event will respond to a call for new ideas for a relaunched moonshot by President Joe Biden earlier this year and will discuss “New International Guidelines for a Relaunched Moon” along with the prospects for international cooperation. (Click here to register.)
Participants in the upcoming gathering organized by Forbes China in partnership with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) and Asia Society in New York, Participants include: Steve Forbes, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief, Forbes; Honored. Kevin Rudd, President and CEO, Asia Society, 26th Prime Minister of Australia; Dr. Wu Yi-Long, President, China Thoracic Oncology Group, China; Greg Simon, Inaugural Executive Director, White House Cancer Moonshot; Dr. Lisa M. DeAngelis, General Practitioner and Medical Director, MSK; Dr. Nancy Y. Lee, Chief and Vice Chairman, Radiation Oncology, MSK; Dr. Louis J. DeGennaro, President and CEO, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society; Dr. Tyler Jacks, President, Break Through Cancer;
Other speakers include Prof. Andrew W. Lo, Professor of Finance, MIT; Co-Founder QLS Advisors; Kenneth Manotti, Senior Vice President and Chief Development Officer, MSK; Dr. Yinghua Wang, Senior Health Regulatory Project Manager, Oncology Center of Excellence, FDA; Rose Gao, Head of Novartis China Global Drug Development, Novartis; Dr. Eduard Gasal, President, Innovent USA; and Dr. Vincent Chia, Managing Director, Raffles China Healthcare, Raffles Medical Group. Dr. will also join. Li; I will wait.
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