NEW YORK & COLUMBUS, Ohio--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY) and The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James) today announced that they have entered into a collaborative 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 OSUCCC – James will conduct a range of early phase clinical studies, and Bristol-Myers Squibb will fund training positions within the Hematology and Medical Oncology fellowship programs of the Ohio State University College of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine.

“Immuno-oncology is rapidly evolving with the potential to play a significant role in the treatment of a broad range of cancers and we are committed to finding innovative and efficient ways to further the science, research and development of these compounds for patients,” said Laura Bessen, M.D., head of U.S. Medical, Bristol-Myers Squibb. “OSCUCC- James is a leading cancer research institution with a shared goal of improving outcomes for patients and we look forward to our collaboration through the I-O RPM program.”

“It is clear based on existing and emerging scientific data that immuno-oncology therapeutics, which harness the patient’s own immune system to attack cancer cells, have tremendous potential to tailor patient treatments based on the individual’s unique tumor characteristics, and this clinical research partnership has the potential to give our patients – both locally and who travel here from across the globe – access to some of the most novel treatments available,” said Richard Goldberg, M.D., Physician-in-Chief at The OSUCCC – James.

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 research 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. 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 research program is a multi-institutional initiative with Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University and the Northwestern Medicine Developmental Therapeutics Institute, Moffitt Cancer Center, The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, UCLA and now OSUCCC – James. I-O RPM builds on Bristol-Myers Squibb’s formation in 2012 of the International Immuno-Oncology Network (II-ON), which 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 OSUCCC – James

The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute strives to create a cancer-free world by integrating scientific research with excellence in education and patient-centered care, a strategy that leads to better methods of prevention, detection and treatment. Ohio State is one of only 45 National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers and one of only four centers funded by the NCI to conduct both phase I and phase II clinical trials on novel anticancer drugs. As the cancer program’s 306-bed adult patient-care component, The James is one of the top cancer hospitals in the nation as ranked by U.S. News & World Report and has achieved Magnet designation, the highest honor an organization can receive for quality patient care and professional nursing practice. At 21 floors with more than 1.1 million square feet, The James is a transformational facility that fosters collaboration and integration of cancer research and clinical cancer care. For more information, visit cancer.osu.edu.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Forward-Looking Statement

This press release contains “forward-looking statements” as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 regarding the research, development and commercialization of pharmaceutical products. Such forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and involve inherent risks and uncertainties, including factors that could delay, divert or change any of them, and could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from current expectations. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. Among other risks, there can be no guarantee that the immunotherapies discussed in this release will be successfully developed or approved for any of the indications described in this release. Forward-looking statements in this press release should be evaluated together with the many uncertainties that affect Bristol-Myers Squibb's business, particularly those identified in the cautionary factors discussion in Bristol-Myers Squibb's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014 in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and our Current Reports on Form 8-K. Bristol-Myers Squibb undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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Source: Bristol-Myers Squibb