Piramal Enterprises Limited (PEL) and Tata Memorial Centre (TMC) will be collaborating to enable the development of valuable tools to better understand disease biology and predict responses to various treatments for cancer patients. The new alliance between the two organisations will focus on the development of preclinical cancer models to enhance the understanding of disease biology, treatment response/ resistance and biomarkers as they relate to diagnosis, prognosis and response to drugs.

These preclinical cancer models will be based on tumour tissues from cancer patients and are predicted to have better translational relevance than the currently used human cancer cell line models.

Scientists at TMC and PEL hope to gain a better understanding of the mechanisms through which various drugs work on different cancers. This research could lead to new therapies and predict the medicine best suited to treat an individual cancer patient.

Dr Rajendra Badwe, MD, director of Tata Memorial Centre said, "Our collaboration with Piramal Enterprises addresses a critical need in cancer care, which is widely accessible and cost effective personalized medicine for cancer patients."

Dr Swati Piramal, vice chairperson of Piramal Enterprises Ltd., commenting on the development said, "We are excited to begin this collaboration with TMC, which is India’s leading centre associated with cancer treatment. We hope that the insights we gain from this alliance will ultimately lead to new treatment options for cancer patients."

The New Chemical Entity (NCE) Research division of Piramal Enterprises focuses on the discovery and development of innovative medicines to improve the lives of patients suffering from cancer, diabetes, metabolic disorders and inflammatory conditions. It has a state-of-the-art Research Centre in Mumbai and comprehensive capabilities spanning target identification all the way through clinical development.

Piramal Enterprises is one of India’s largest diversified companies, with a presence in pharmaceutical, financial services and information management sectors.

Tata Memorial Centre is the national comprehensive cancer centre for prevention, treatment, education and research in cancer and draws expertise from its team of highly qualified and dedicated world-class surgeons, oncologists, pathologists and allied health care professionals.