US drug giants joint forces to speed lung and gastric cancer research in Asia

With the aim of accelerating research and improve treatment for lung and gastric cancer in Asia, three US drug giants - Eli Lilly, Merck &Co (also known as Merck Sharp & Dohme outside the USA and Canada) and Pfizer today announced the formation of the Asian Cancer Research Group (ACRG), an independent, not-for-profit company established to accelerate research and ultimately improve treatment for patients affected.

The ACRG's formation represents a prime example of a growing trend in pre-competitive collaboration in which large pharmaceutical companies combine their resources and expertise to rapidly increase knowledge of disease and disease processes, the drugmakers said in a statement. The goal of the ACRG is to improve the knowledge of cancers prevalent in Asia and to accelerate drug discovery efforts by freely sharing the resulting data with the scientific community.

'Through its work and the subsequent sharing of information, the ACRG hopes to empower researchers, foster innovation and improve the prognosis and treatment of patients with cancer,' said Gary Gilliland, senior vice president and franchise head, Oncology, Merck Research Laboratories.