SU2C Catalyst is an unique collaborative initiative intended to leverage all stages of the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, diagnostic, and devices industries to bring new treatments to patients as rapidly as possible. These SU2C Catalyst Team Grants facilitate the collaboration between industry and academic scientists in the cancer community who will conduct collaborative research projects that will deliver significant benefits for patients and society, accelerating the development of new treatments and, where appropriate, combination therapies.

Meet the active SU2C Catalyst® Teams

• SU2C Catalyst® Lung Immuno-Epigenetics Team: Combined epigenetic therapy and pembrolizumab for advanced non-small cell lung cancer.
• SU2C Catalyst® Sarcoma Team: Pembrolizumab and radiation therapy to improve outcome in high-risk sarcoma
• SU2C Catalyst® Lung Immunotherapy Team: Tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte adoptive T-cell therapy for NSCLC. 
• SU2C Catalyst® Reversing Resistance Team: Reversing primary anti-PD-1 resistance with ipilimumab and nivolumab. 
• SU2C Catalyst® Multiple Myeloma Team: Immunotherapy to prevent progression in multiple myeloma
• SU2C Catalyst® Urothelial Bladder Cancer Team: Overcoming atezolizumab resistance with epigenetic therapy in urothelial cancer. 
• SU2C Catalyst® Neoadjuvant Melanoma Team: Neoadjuvant Therapy for Patients with High-Risk Stage III
• SU2C Catalyst® Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Team: Combination Ipatasertib and Atezolizumab to Prevent Recurrence in TNBC. 
• SU2C Catalyst® Prostate Cancer Team: Atezolizumab, Abiraterone, and SBRT in Hormone Sens M1b PCa

SU2C CATALYST® LUNG IMMUNO-EPIGENETICS TEAM: COMBINED EPIGENETIC THERAPY AND PEMBROLIZUMAB FOR ADVANCED NON-SMALL CELL LUNG CANCER

Research

Immunotherapy has revolutionized treatment for cancer patients, particularly those suffering from non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, there is critical need to identify novel combination therapies that augment the efficacy of immune therapies. Prior work from the team has shown that epigenetic therapy can cause cancers to behave as if infected by a virus, termed as “viral mimicry”, attracting immune cells to the cancer. The Team is conducting a clinical trial using a combination of three drugs (pembrolizumab, guadecitabine, and mocetinostat) to examine the synergy that can be achieved in NSCLC by combining epigenetic (guadecitabine, and mocetinostat) and immune therapies (pembrolizumab).

SU2C Catalyst® SARCOMA Team: Pembrolizumab and radiation therapy to improve outcome in high-risk sarcoma

Research

Patients with soft tissue sarcomas often develop metastasis in the lung, leading to death. Recent studies suggest that radiation therapy can act together with immune checkpoint inhibitors to attack cancer cells. The team led by Dr. Kirsch is conducting a trial to test whether combining pembrolizumab (immune checkpoint inhibitor) with radiation therapy before surgery can destroy small sarcoma deposits in the lungs.

SU2C CATALYST® LUNG IMMUNOTHERAPY TEAM: TUMOR-INFILTRATING LYMPHOCYTE ADOPTIVE T-CELL THERAPY FOR NSCLC

Research

Lung cancer patients have been found to be responsive to immune checkpoint inhibitors. Nivolumab, an immune checkpoint inhibitor is FDA-approved for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC); however, the overall response rate is only 15-20% of patients. Nivolumab is especially effective for tumors which contain a high density of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs). The team is conducting a clinical trial of TIL and nivolumab in advanced stage NSCLC patients, with the hope that this combination will produce a much more robust clinical response than with nivolumab alone.

SU2C CATALYST® REVERSING RESISTANCE TEAM: REVERSING PRIMARY ANTI-PD-1 RESISTANCE WITH IPILIMUMAB AND NIVOLUMAB

Research

This team is analyzing tumor tissue and blood samples from a phase II clinical trial on the combination of ipilimumab and nivolumab in patients with metastatic melanoma who have progressed on prior anti-PD1 therapy. The team anticipates that the correlative analyses will help further clinical development of this combination in other cancers by providing information on how patients respond or progress on single agent or combination therapy.

SU2C CATALYST® MULTIPLE MYELOMA TEAM: IMMUNOTHERAPY TO PREVENT PROGRESSION IN MULTIPLE MYELOMA

Research

Multiple Myeloma (MM), a cancer of the bone marrow, almost always progresses from precursor states of monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS)/smoldering multiple myeloma (SMM) to over MM. The team has completed a phase II clinical trial of elotuzumab (antibody against SLAMF7, an antigen found on myeloma cells) with lenalidomide and dexamethasone in patients with high-risk SMM. Using samples from patients enrolled on this clinical trial, the team is testing whether immunotherapeutic strategies for early therapeutic intervention in SMM, along with well-defined molecular markers of response/resistance, can help define a novel approach to prevent progression to MM.

SU2C Catalyst® Urothelial Bladder Cancer Team: Overcoming atezolizumab resistance with epigenetic therapy in urothelial cancer

SU2C CATALYST® NEOADJUVANT MELANOMA TEAM: NEOADJUVANT THERAPY FOR PATIENTS WITH HIGH-RISK STAGE III MELANOMA

SU2C CATALYST® TRIPLE-NEGATIVE BREAST CANCER TEAM: COMBINATION IPATASERTIB AND ATEZOLIZUMAB TO PREVENT RECURRENCE IN TNBC

SU2C CATALYST® PROSTATE CANCER TEAM: ATEZOLIZUMAB, ABIRATERONE, AND SBRT IN HORMONE SENS M1B PCA