Finding ways to improve Academy-Industry collaboration
In cancer research, academy and industry still work in silos but there is room for improvement, and more successful partnership can rise from an in-depth acknowledgement of needs, shared area of interests and drivers for change. A very first step towards this direction has been taken by the Clinical Academic Cancer Research Forum (CAREFOR) – a multi-stakeholder platform aiming to improve academic cancer research in Europe – which conducted an analysis of current models, challenges and effective strategies for academic-industry research together with selected industry representatives. The paper, which has been recently published on ESMO Open, (1) is a call to action to all oncology communities to join their efforts. Commenting on the paper, Professor Eric Van Cutsem from University of Leuven, Belgium, shares his perspectives on how investing in collaborative trials may be strategic for the benefit of patients.