Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation Awards Bio-Therapeutics Impact Grant, for promising biologic approaches nearing clinical trial

Three-year, $1.5 million grant to be awarded to The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia researcher

Philadelphia, PA (January 6, 2016) – Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF), a nonprofit dedicated to finding cures for all kids with cancer, has awarded a Bio-Therapeutics Impact Grant to Yael Mossé, MD, of The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. This grant will provide $1.5 million of funding over the course of three years.

Mossé will use the grant to launch a paradigm-shifting collaborative clinical trial for children with relapsed or refractory neuroblastoma. The purpose is to provide a combination of therapies based on the individual genetic features of the cancer at the time of relapse for children who have no effective available options.

“Many of these biological therapies research projects focus on hard to treat, high-risk cancers and may hold the key to finding better treatments, if not unlocking the cures for children fighting for their lives,” said Jay Scott, Co-Executive Director of Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation. “With the awarding of this grant to The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, we are one step closer to finding those cures our daughter dreamed of.”

The Bio-Therapeutics Impact Grant accelerates the development of clinical trials for promising biologic approaches to treating childhood cancer. These approaches include, but are not limited to, immunotherapy, gene therapy and small molecules.  The award is intended for investigators who are initiating clinical trials or undertaking the pre-clinical work necessary to move into the IND (investigational new drug) phase.