Cancer Commons founder Marty Tenenbaum, Ph.D., spoke on May 31 at Washington University in St. Louis during an invitation-only conference focused on new approaches to biomedical innovation. Marty, who founded Cancer Commons after his own battle with melanoma, participated in the “Opportunities and Challenges in Oncology Therapeutic Development” session, which explored promising new innovations that have not yet received the attention they merit.
During the session, Marty discussed the promise of Virtual Trials and Conditional Approval. Virtual Trials capture treatment and outcome data at the point of care, and use that information to inform future treatment decisions, thereby transforming the everyday practice of oncology into a global adaptive search for better treatments and cures. Conditional Approval facilitates drug access by creating a new regulatory pathway whereby any physician can treat an advanced cancer patient with promising investigational drugs that have demonstrated safety and a biological effect in a small group of patients.