2022 ASTRO-Sumitomo Pharma-Pfizer Alliance New Combination (Relugolix-Radiation) Therapy Challenge

While this opportunity is not currently available, you may view the original Challenge Program Announcement (PA).

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Purpose

To catalyze new collaborative research opportunities, and to facilitate radiation oncology leadership in scientific discovery with the Sumitomo-Pfizer Alliance in the space of multimodality combination therapy.

Challenge Statement/Research Areas of Interest

How can prostate cancer treatment be improved with the gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) receptor antagonist relugolix in patients receiving radiotherapy?

Research proposals in the following topic areas are encouraged:

• Use of relugolix with definitive radiotherapy (concomitant/adjuvant/neoadjuvant) in prostate cancer patients with high/very high risk, unfavorable intermediate risk and regional disease
• Use of relugolix with radiotherapy as salvage therapy post treatment with curative intent
• Concomitant treatment with other oral oncolytics (e.g., ARIs)
• Synchronous oligometastatic/metastatic and oligoprogressive disease

Studies of interest may include evaluating the following:

• Clinical outcomes (i.e., rPFS, MFS, local control, etc.)
• Testosterone kinetics
• Patient-Reported Outcomes (PROs)
• Safety/Adverse Events (AEs)
• Compliance/adherence
• Translational research such as exploratory biomarkers and mechanistic studies may be considered as part of a clinical trial

Topic areas out-of-scope include:

• Recurrent oligometastatic disease
• Retrospective studies
• All other tumor sites  
• Ex-U.S. studies

Geographic Scope

United States

Budget

The target budget for each individual project grant was up to U.S. $500,000 (Total costs, which include both direct and indirect costs). Overhead (indirect cost) rates of up to 28% of the total proposed project budget were allowed.

The amount of the Sumitomo-Pfizer Alliance funds for any project depended upon the expert review panel, also known as the Challenge Judging Panel.

Funding for the 2022 ASTRO-Sumitomo-Pfizer New Combination Therapy Challenge was up to $2,500,000, across three to five projects.

2022 Winners: The three winners of the 2022 ASTRO-Sumitomo-Pfizer Alliance New Combination Therapy Challenge were:

1. Xinglei Shen, MD
   • Institution: University of Kansas Medical Center
   • Research Proposal Title: Quantifying optimal relugolix duration with radiation in high-risk cancer
2. Shang-Jui Wang, MD, PhD
   • Institution: The Ohio State University
   • Research Proposal Title: A comparison of Orgovyx (relugolix) vs Eligard (leuprolide) on cardiovascular function and biomarkers during standard of care combined ADT (androgen deprivation therapy)-radiation for prostate cancer
3. James Yu, MD, FASTRO
   • Institution: Yale School of Medicine
   • Research Proposal Title: Phase III SUGAR study: SBRT and Ultrashort GnRH Antagonist-Relugolix for clinicogenomic unfavorable intermediate risk prostate cancer

Number of Grants

Up to three to five awards were selected by the expert review panel.

Entry Due Date

July 18, 2022; 11:59 p.m. Eastern time 

Grantor

Sumitomo Sciences-Pfizer Alliance

Grant Agreement Requirements

If your entry had been recommended by the ASTRO Challenge Judging Panel, your institution was required to enter into a written grant agreement with Pfizer and Sumitomo in order that support could be provided. View the core terms of the agreement (though note that this is not the complete contract template). Neither Pfizer nor Myovant had the resources to negotiate grant agreements, so please ensure that your institution was able and willing to abide by these terms before proceeding with your application.

Program Contact

Sign up for alerts and/or email questions about this PA to the ASTRO Department of Scientific Affairs.