The Minderoo Foundation in Dalkeith, Western Australia, has announced a AU$61 million ($45.06 million) grant from the Commonwealth Department of Industry, Science, Energy & Resources in support of the Precision Oncology Screening Platform enabling Clinical Trials (PrOSPeCT) project.

The goal of PrOSPeCT, a three-year, AU$185.4 million ($136.97 million) public-private partnership led by OMICO, is to support sustainable industry, accelerate data-driven research and development, and create positive system change to improve outcomes for cancer patients. To that end, the partnership will work to provide genomic screening through national adult and pediatric oncology networks; collect comprehensive clinical, pathologic, treatment, and outcomes data on all patients; and function as a coordinating and enabling platform to increase collaboration between businesses that operate in the clinical trials and research ecosystem. The project has the potential to increase cancer patient access to repurposed and new drugs and immunotherapies; attract global investment in Australian clinical trials and build national trials capacity; and produce a large, integrated research dataset of international significance and commercial value.

“This joint venture exemplifies Minderoo’s approach to collaboratively drive scalable, systemic change in cancer care,” said Steve Burnell, director of the foundation’s Collaborate Against Cancer initiative. “We are working alongside trusted partners to bring new options to Australian cancer patients, build and strengthen a critically important set of healthcare infrastructure and technology capabilities, and demonstrate the true value of large, integrated, health datasets to accelerate research.”

(Photo credit: Getty Images/drazen)