MDS secures multiple myeloma deal

Under the ongoing deal, MDS, a provider of drug discovery and development services, will manage and conduct all of the MMRC's investigator-initiated pre-clinical and clinical research efforts, including the data management related to the collection of tissues for MMRC's tissue bank.

The MMRC will also recommend MDS to its partners who are conducting industry-sponsored research through the consortium, said the organisation.

"Currently about one third of MMRC's research is investigator initiated and so the deal gives MDS the opportunity to be involved with at least 2-3 trials this year," Steven Young, executive director, MMRC, told Outsourcing-Pharma.com.​

"By the end of this year MMRC plans to have a European presence and MDS will continue to work with us as we expand," he said.

MDS Pharma Services offers a full spectrum of advanced scientific and technological expertise to significantly accelerate each step of the drug discovery and development pathways,​ said Nancy Sumberaz, president, MMRC, in a statement.

Expanding upon this, Young said that "MDS was chosen because it was a really good fit with our organisation, in terms of size and international presence, and the company showed a great deal of enthusiasm for the work we are doing and demonstrated a good understanding of our business model."

The MMRC was founded in 2004 in order to accelerate drug development and myeloma research by linking leading academic institutions through membership agreements, customized IT systems, and an integrated tissue bank.

An incurable but treatable disease, multiple myeloma is a cancer of the plasma cell and the second most prevalent blood cancer after non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Despite recent advances in treating myeloma, the five-year survival rate for multiple myeloma is only 32 per cent, one of the lowest of all cancers, and an estimated 11,070 people die from the disease in the US each year.