Scientist’s Drive Puts the Brakes on Cancer

September 11th, 2014

The Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM) has posted an article describing Jim Allison’s work in the CRL.

The article describes how Jim’s work in the Cancer Research Lab at UC Berkeley led to a novel FDA-approved therapy for melanoma:

As a kid, James Allison loved to figure out how things worked.

“I wanted to be the first person on the planet to know something before anyone else,” says Allison, who prepared for a life of discovery by pursuing a bachelor’s degree in microbiology and a doctorate in biological sciences.

After 20 years of intense laboratory research studying the body’s immune system, he got his wish.

Using Allison’s pioneering work, the biotechnology company, Medarex, in partnership with Bristol-Myers Squibb, developed Yervoy, the first drug ever shown to significantly improve overall survival for patients with advanced metastatic melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer.

“Twenty-five percent of patients treated with Yervoy are still alive four-and–a-half years later,” says Allison. “We can’t call it a cure, but what we’re seeing is a durable response.”

You can read the whole story here: http://www.betterworldproject.org/University_of_California.htm