Keith T. Flaherty, MD, has joined the xCures Scientific Advisory Board as Chairman. The Scientific Advisory Board supports the work of xCures’ Virtual Tumor Boards in running patient-centered “Perpetual Trials” for oncology. xCures currently runs XCELSIOR, a Perpetual Trial integrating real-world data and patient-reported outcomes with an AI-enhanced Virtual Tumor Board. By implementing this precision oncology approach to the treatment of all cancer patients, on all therapies, all the time, xCures aims to develop deep insight into rapid improvements in the treatment of cancer patients.
“Keith Flaherty brings unparalleled experience in targeted therapy and will be an invaluable addition to the essential activities of our Scientific Advisory Board as more and more we bring real world evidence and patient-centered approaches to research to bear for patients in their fights against cancer,” said Mika Newton, CEO of xCures.
The xCures Scientific Advisory Board’s efforts include developing a portfolio of leading drugs for each of the major molecular mechanisms/pathways driving cancer and providing these options as input for xCure’s Virtual Tumor Boards to consider when formulating treatment options for cancer patients and their doctors. In conjunction with the Advisory Board, xCures works to establish relationships with the manufacturers of those drugs to make them part of the company’s compassionate access compendium. This makes these options more readily available to patients and their physicians. The Scientific Advisory Board will also consider outside entities submitting their hypotheses or therapies as treatment options for considerations by the Virtual Tumor Boards.
“Defeating cancer demands new approaches that both capture and disseminate treatment information broadly and efficiently,” said Dr. Flaherty. “These approaches must take into account the fact that there are far too many rational treatments to try and that traditional trials are far too expensive. I am thrilled to work with xCures as they further develop a revolutionary platform that can rapidly evaluate new therapeutic options at a fraction of the time and cost of traditional trials.”
Keith Flaherty, MD, is Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Director of Clinical Research at the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, where he was named as the Richard Saltonstall Endowed Chair in Oncology.