Meeting of the CELONKO research project consortium members

On 2 February 2017 the inaugural meeting was held for the research project: Development of modern biomarkers and development of an innovative FGFR kinase inhibitor for the treatment of neoplastic diseases – CELONKO. The meeting included a presentation of the project deliverables to date and the plans for 2017.

Aleksandra Stańczak, MD, leader of the Oncology Research Group in the Celon Pharma S.A. Research and Development Centre, responsible for coordination of the project: Therapies directed against FGFR proteins constitute an innovative solution which can be used in treatment of FGFR-dependent cancer, including cancers of the bladder, stomach, endometrium or lungs. The project also provides for the development of a diagnostic test which will allow for selecting cancer patients with FGFR receptor aberrations, who will benefit most from the new treatment.

The meeting was attended by representatives of the Maria Skłodowska-Curie Institute of Oncology in Warsaw, the National Research Institute for Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases in Warsaw, the Military Institute of Medicine in Warsaw and the Medical University of Gdańsk, all of which create the CELONKO project scientific consortium along with Celon Pharma S.A.

Lubomir Bodnar, MD (habilitation), the Military Institute of Medicine in Warsaw: Developing increasingly more effective and safe anticancer therapies is the priority of modern medicine. Along with the consortium leader, Celon Pharma S.A., we wish to meet this challenge by developing an efficacious targeted therapy which would be well tolerated by patients and which will inhibit disease progression and extend the lives of many patients.

The project is co-financed from the STRATEGMED programme. The total cost of the CELONKO project is PLN 54,717,125, of which PLN 38,613,623 is financed by the National Centre for Research and Development.