OREANDA-NEWS. September 28, 2015. Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY) and Moffitt Cancer Center today announced that they have entered into a collaboration agreement as part of Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Immuno-Oncology Rare Population Malignancy (I-O RPM) program in the U.S. The I-O RPM program is a multi-institutional initiative with academic-based cancer centers focused on the clinical investigation of immuno-oncology therapeutics as potential treatment options for patients with high risk, poor prognostic cancers, defined as a rare population malignancy.

As part of the I-O RPM program, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Moffitt will conduct a range of early phase clinical studies, including clinical investigations by young investigators to strengthen their development as clinical research scientists.

“Moffitt Cancer Center has had a long-standing commitment to immuno-oncology research, including in partnership with Bristol-Myers Squibb, and we look forward to our continued work with them as part of the I-O RPM program,” said Laura Bessen, MD, head of U.S. Medical, Bristol-Myers Squibb.

“This new partnership with Bristol-Myers Squibb will foster new Moffitt investigator-initiated studies for rare tumors and gives our faculty the opportunity to educate research students about innovative clinical trials,” said Dan Sullivan, M.D., Associate Center Director for Clinical Science at Moffitt.

About I-O RPM

Immuno-oncology is an innovative approach to cancer research and treatment that is designed to harness the body’s own immune system to fight cancer. The I-O RPM program focuses on significant areas of high unmet need marked by poor outcomes among patients with rare population malignancies. A rare population malignancy is a subpopulation within a higher incident disease population (e.g. BRCA 1 and 2 breast cancer). These patients have aggressive disease with an increased potential for early metastasis to multiple sites and/or are initially refractory or subject to early recurrences with conventional cancer therapies. Existing clinical research provide a strong rationale for further research into the potential of immunotherapies for these cancers.

The I-O RPM builds on Bristol-Myers Squibb’s formation in 2012 of the International Immuno-Oncology Network (II-ON). II-ON is a global collaboration between Bristol-Myers Squibb and academia focused on facilitating the translation of scientific research findings into clinical trials and, eventually, clinical practice.

About Bristol Myers Squibb

Bristol-Myers Squibb is a global biopharmaceutical company whose mission is to discover, develop and deliver innovative medicines that help patients prevail over serious diseases. For more information, please visit www.bms.comor follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/bmsnews.

About the Moffitt Cancer Center

Located in Tampa, Moffitt is one of only 45 National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers, a distinction that recognizes Moffitt’s excellence in research, its contributions to clinical trials, prevention and cancer control. Moffitt is the top-ranked cancer hospital in Florida and has been listed in U.S. News & World Report as one of the “Best Hospitals” for cancer care since 1999. With more than 4,600 team members, Moffitt has an economic impact in the state of \\$1.9 billion. For more information, visit MOFFITT.org, and follow the Moffitt momentum on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.