Greater Manchester team praised following extra fast UK first recruit
A Greater Manchester trust has recruited the first patient to a clinical trial designed to improve health outcomes for patients with advanced cancers of the blood.
The landmark recruit was achieved by the Haematology and Transplant Research Team at The Christie. They had the first patient lined up just an hour after R&D approval of the study protocol in mid-August 2019.
The trial is evaluating the safety and efficacy of CCS1477 as a monotherapy for the treatment of patients with advanced haematological malignancies.
These conditions include Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, Multiple Myeloma, Acute Myeloid Leukaemia and High Risk Myelodysplastic syndrome.
The study drug has the potential to provide clinical benefit to patients with haematological malignancies who have progressed after treatment with standard therapies, or in patients who are not deemed suitable for these standard therapies.
Ryan-James Roberts, Senior Clinical Trials Coordinator with the Haematology and Transplant Research team, said: "I would like to praise the research nurses in particular for their efforts in securing this landmark recruit.
"They pulled a lot of strings to get the screening procedures completed in such a short time and really worked hard to make everything as smooth as possible for the patient."
The multi-centre trial is initially being carried out at four sites across the UK, with further sites being identified and an estimated recruitment target of 90 patients.
It is sponsored by biotechnology company CellCentric and is on the NIHR Clinical Research Network portfolio of high-quality clinical research studies which have met Department of Health and Social Care established eligibility criteria.
Helen O’Brien, CRN Greater Manchester Industry Facilitator who works with The Christie, said: “The Christie’s Haematology and Transplant Research Team has worked extremely hard to recruit the first patient to this commercial study.
“They were able to set up the study very quickly and have given eligible patients at The Christie the opportunity to participate at the earliest convenience.
“Not only does this efficiency provide an excellent service for patients, it also helps to reinforce the fact that Greater Manchester has the infrastructure to deliver clinical trials in an efficient manner and capture high quality research data.”
Dr Will West, Chief Executive Officer of CellCentric Ltd, commented: “We are delighted to be working with the team at The Christie who combine clinical, scientific and operational excellence.
“We look forward to continuing to work together to evaluate our first-in-class p300/CBP inhibitor, CCS147, for patients that have few alternatives.”
