Building a new concept for early oncology drug development

'Traditionally drug studies in cancer patients take place in the context of clinical care,' says Dr Co Bosch, Research Director of Oncology. 'They often include patients with metastatic disease and an extended medical history, comorbidities and concomitant medication. In many of these studies, the investigational drug is combined with standard therapy regimens. For all these reasons, it is important to have options for advanced diagnostic and therapeutic interventions close by. In our own clinical research unit, we mainly conduct studies with healthy volunteers and ambulatory patients, and we do not have all the necessary diagnostic and treatment facilities for this group of cancer patients.’

The opening of CHDR’s clinical research unit within the LUMC is therefore an important milestone for the Oncology group. CHDR also participates in the LUMC’s interdisciplinary Oncologic-Clinical Research Unit (O-CRU). Bosch sees many opportunities for collaboration and synergy between his Oncology group and the oncologists at LUMC, with both parties benefiting from each other's clinical expertise and operational capacity. Together with CHDR’s studies in healthy volunteers, the collaborative efforts will contribute to a more efficient development of oncology drugs.

CHDR has the ambition to develop dedicated hospital-integrated clinical research units in other hospitals in the coming years. Bosch: 'What I envision is a new integrative approach to oncological drug development, where we start in healthy volunteers, followed by early phase studies in cancer patients for optimised dose finding and selection. These studies will be conducted in a network of clinical research units connected to CHDR. The collaboration with our clinical partners in hospitals also provides the basis for a swift transition from early to later phase studies, for example by implementing the same biomarkers throughout the clinical drug development process. That would offer unique opportunities for continuity and efficiency. We are excited to be on track with these developments for our new therapeutic area Oncology!’