This week, we launched the newest ALADDIN podcast episode with Prof
Michel Zwaan, on the role of industry-led trials in developing new
medicines for children with cancer.
Prof Michel Zwaan is a paediatric oncologist working at the Prinses
Maxima Centrum in the Netherlands, where he is the principal
investigator for Drug Development and Experimental Therapeutics and head
of the Trial and Data Center. During his career, he has
worked closely with a number of pharmaceutical companies in regard to
conducting clinical trials for children with cancer.
Due to the small patient population that childhood cancer affects, most
trials that are carried out are academically sponsored – meaning they
are led by research institutions. Whilst this has its advantages, there
are also challenges including the amount of
funding available to conduct these trials, as well as access to the
innovative medicines needed in these trials. In contrast,
industry-sponsored trials that are led by pharmaceutical companies
usually have more resource in both these areas.
For this reason, it is important that research institutions are able to
work collaboratively with the pharmaceutical industry in order to
develop innovative treatments for children’s cancers as effectively and
rapidly as possible. In this episode of the ALADDIN
podcast, Prof Zwaan gives his perspective on academia-industry
collaboration, drawing on his expertise and experience in this crossover
of the research landscape.