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involve an in-depth analysis of a tumor’s mutation for many different types of cancer,
regardless of where the tumor originated. OICR’s recent sequencing projects have
been building up the foundation for this large-scale clinical sequencing project. OICR
has already started clinical resequencing of patients with metastatic disease, rese-
quencing a large number of target genes with the Pacifi c Biosciences system. These
projects have been testing the feasibility of moving to a large-scale study. One of
OICR’s central goals with this project is to use sequencing to test for a range of muta-
tions in tumors, instead of just one type that has already been shown to have a mean-
ingful association with treatment or outcome. The aim of this effort is to conduct
molecular profi ling by sequencing, rather than genotyping, so that patients can be
moved to the appropriate clinical trials. The results of such trials would help to deter-
mine the treatments that would be given to individual patients.
Personalized Medicine Partnership for Cancer in Quebec
In February 2013, The Government of Québec announced a $10 million investment
in the Personalized Medicine Partnership for Cancer (PMPC). The public-private
partnership will be focused on establishing an integrated approach for the develop-
ment and implementation of clinical biomarkers and other personalized healthcare
solutions to improve the outcome and cost effi ciency of healthcare services pro-
vided to cancer patients in the province of Québec and abroad. The investment, to
be disbursed over a 4 year period, will be supplemented with $11.1 million of fund-
ing from the private sector partners, for a total project value of $21.1 million. PMPC
will be under the leadership of Caprion Proteome, a company specializing in the
discovery and development of protein-based diagnostic biomarkers. Other partners
will include the Québec Clinical Research Organization in Cancer, a multidisci-
plinary network of clinicians, academic scientists and other members of the medical
community involved in clinical and translational cancer research, as well as private
partners Oncozyme Pharma, Pfi zer Canada, Sanofi Canada and TELUS Health, a
healthcare service provider. As part of the projects supported through this partner-
ship, state-of-the-art genomic, proteomic, bioinformatic and information technol-
ogy platforms will be implemented to develop and deploy novel biomarkers and
targeted therapeutic strategies in the healthcare system for the treatment of lung,
colon and breast cancers. This partnership will integrate advanced technology plat-
forms with clinical research to accelerate the development and clinical deployment
of novel personalized healthcare solutions.
Quebec Center of Excellence in Personalized Medicine
In 2008, Montreal Heart Institute and Génome Québec formed the Center of
Excellence in Personalized Medicine, which will be funded with more than $22
million in investments from government and commercial entities over 5 years.
20 Development of Personalized Medicine