PHILADELPHIA – In August, The University of Pennsylvania(Penn) announced a major new strategic alliance with a major pharmaceutical company to further develop novel immunotherapies using chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) technology developed in the laboratories of Carl June, MD, the Richard W. Vague Professor in Immunotherapy in the department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Perelman School of Medicine and director of Translational Research in the Abramson Cancer Center. Penn recognizes the major role played by The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) in enabling these discoveries to be developed and tested in patients to the point that Penn was able to attract a commercial partner.
Since 2001, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) has played a vital role in advancing the pioneering work of Dr. June and his team with investments of awards totaling over $20 million.
“Our early and ongoing results in patients treated with chimeric antigen receptors represent more than a decade of investment and support from LLS that has helped enable us to treat cancer in an entirely new way. The advancement of this highly targeted, cell-based therapy powered by the might of a patient’s own immune system is an early example of the power and potential of precision and personalized medicine,” said, Carl June, MD. “Our lab and Penn look forward to continuing our partnership with the LLS to transform the face of cancer, in general, and blood cancer in particular.”
LLS continue to support this important work, announcing in September that the Society has awarded a new 5-year, $6.25 million grant to Dr June’s team so they can continue to develop other innovative novel immune-based therapies.
“Accelerating promising therapies for patients with unmet need is among the chief aims of LLS,” said LLS Chief Mission Officer Louis DeGennaro, Ph.D. “Our goal is to bridge the drug development gap and bring promising therapies to the next level of funding."
Penn Medicine is one of the world’s leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, excellence in patient care, and community service. The organization consists of the University of Pennsylvania Health System and Penn’s Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine, founded in 1765 as the nation’s first medical school.
The Perelman School of Medicine is consistently among the nation's top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $550 million awarded in the 2022 fiscal year. Home to a proud history of “firsts” in medicine, Penn Medicine teams have pioneered discoveries and innovations that have shaped modern medicine, including recent breakthroughs such as CAR T cell therapy for cancer and the mRNA technology used in COVID-19 vaccines.
The University of Pennsylvania Health System’s patient care facilities stretch from the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania to the New Jersey shore. These include the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, Chester County Hospital, Lancaster General Health, Penn Medicine Princeton Health, and Pennsylvania Hospital—the nation’s first hospital, founded in 1751. Additional facilities and enterprises include Good Shepherd Penn Partners, Penn Medicine at Home, Lancaster Behavioral Health Hospital, and Princeton House Behavioral Health, among others.
Penn Medicine is an $11.1 billion enterprise powered by more than 49,000 talented faculty and staff.