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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
November 8, 2018

CONTACT:

Global Coalition for Adaptive Research
Rachel Rosenstein-Sisson, Executive Assistant
E-mail: rrosenstein.sisson@gcaresearch.org / Phone: 617-299-6471

National Foundation for Cancer Research
Bradley Gillenwater, Senior Director for Global Programs & Communications
E-mail: bgillenwater@nfcr.org / Phone: 301-961-9161

LEXINGTON, MA & ROCKVILLE, MD – Gary Gordon, M.D., Ph.D., has been named as Interim Chief Executive Officer, effective today, of the Global Coalition for Adaptive Research (GCAR), a non-profit organization working to speed the discovery and development of cures for rare and deadly diseases, starting with one of the most deadly brain cancers—glioblastoma (GBM).

“The GCAR team is honored to have someone of Dr. Gordon’s stature and experience helping lead our team,” stated Faramarz Yousefzadeh, Chairman of the Board of Directors. “We are confident that even in an interim, part-time capacity, he will build upon our founding members’ north star, to help patients suffering from lethal cancers.”

Mr. Yousefzadeh joined the board a year ago after the devastating loss of his wife, who died from GBM. The Yousefzadeh family committed seed support of $2 million to GCAR to help operationalize GBM AGILE, a revolutionary platform trial to identify new and effective therapies for glioblastoma patients.

In addition, the National Foundation for Cancer Research (NFCR), an organization that has impacted long-term, transformative research often overlooked by other major funding sources for over 45 years, has committed more than $1.5 million to the project.

“As one of the first to support GBM AGILE, we recognized early on the innovative and collaborative nature of the adaptive trial design and the immediate impact it would have on cancer treatment and care for patients around the world,” said Sujuan Ba, Ph.D., President and Chief Operating Officer at NFCR and Co-Founder and Board Member of GCAR. “We are honored to partner with GCAR on this important initiative.”

Dr. Gordon, an accomplished pharmaceutical executive and strategic business leader with extensive drug development experience, most recently served as the Vice President of Oncology Development at AbbVie. There he drove drug development innovations, expanded the staff and advanced the oncology drug pipeline.

“I have devoted my entire career to helping patients,” shared Dr. Gordon. “I am very pleased to be assisting GCAR, an organization that I firmly believe will advance patient care and science through GBM AGILE, one of the most innovative clinical trial designs I have seen.”

Prior to joining Abbott (AbbVie), Dr. Gordon was Chief Scientific Officer and Vice President of Clinical Affairs at Ovation Pharmaceuticals. He also oversaw programs related to COX-2 inhibitors for the prevention and treatment of cancer, the development of angiogenesis inhibitors and involvement in the hematopoietic and cancer immunization program at the G.D. Searle division of Monsanto, which eventually became part of Pharmacia, a wholly owned subsidiary of Pfizer Inc. He received his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where he also completed his residency and postdoctoral training and served as an Associate Professor of Medicine.

“GBM AGILE is a new approach to testing and developing cancer drugs,” stated Brian Alexander, M.D., M.P.H., Senior Vice President at Foundation Medicine and Co-Founder of GCAR. “The long history of failure underscores the need for a radical transformation on how drugs are brought forward into clinical testing. We now have a solution and must act now, patients are counting on us.”

About the Global Coalition for Adaptive Research

GCAR is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, comprised of some of the world’s foremost physicians, clinical researchers and investigators united in expediting the discovery and development of cures for patients with rare and deadly diseases. As its first priority, GCAR is sponsoring GBM AGILE, an adaptive platform trial for patients with glioblastoma (GBM). GCAR’s vision is to expand and replicate what is learned using this innovative model for glioblastoma to benefit patients with other rare and deadly diseases. To learn more, visit www.gcaresearch.org.  

About the National Foundation for Cancer Research

NFCR is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that provides scientists in the lab the funding they need to make game-changing discoveries in cancer treatments, detection, prevention and, ultimately, a cure. It has distinguished itself in the cancer sector by emphasizing long-term, transformative research often overlooked by other major funding sources. With the help of more than 5.3 million individual donors over the last 45 years, NFCR has delivered more than $380 million in funding to public education and cancer research leading to several important, life-saving discoveries. For more information, visit www.nfcr.org.

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