The future of cancer treatment is here
2024 marked a historic year in Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center history — the opening of 14 new state-of-the-art clean rooms as part of the new Roswell Park GMP Engineering & Cell Manufacturing (GEM) Facility. The new clean rooms, paired with four pre-existing clean rooms, position Roswell Park as a global leader in the field of cell and gene therapy.
Cell therapy uses the innate genius of the immune system to fight cancer using cells (sometimes gene-engineered) to kill existing cancer and stop further growth. Thanks to the new cell manufacturing facilities, these cells can now be manufactured in-house, opening a world of possibilities for cancer treatment for both solid tumors and blood cancers.
This historic grand opening was made possible by a $30 million investment from Empire State Development and $20 million raised by generous donors, including Empire State Ride road warriors, through the Igniting Cancer Breakthroughs campaign. The campaign is still ongoing, but this phase marks a significant milestone along the way.
“We proudly celebrate today the opening of the nation’s largest academic facility dedicated to making cell and gene cancer therapies more accessible for cancer patients, for researchers and for companies working to advance this next-generation cancer therapy,” said Roswell Park President, CEO and M&T Bank Presidential Chair in Leadership, Candace Johnson, PhD. “Cell and gene therapies are redefining expectations of what is possible through cancer treatment, and through the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and Empire State Development, we look eagerly to a future where even the most hard-to-treat cancers can be successfully treated and cured.”
About the Cell Production Facility
Roswell Park’s GEM facility is the first of only two cell and gene therapy hubs in New York State. It will enable Roswell Park to improve patient access to cell and gene therapies while fueling more clinical trials in pursuit of effective, less invasive treatments for all types of cancer. The facility will also create new jobs, significantly grow Roswell Park’s well-established research capabilities and launch the comprehensive cancer center as one of the premier cell therapy discovery and development institutions in the nation.
Funds from the 2024 Empire State Ride as well as designated funds from individual riders helped make this possible. Several ESR alumni had the chance to tour the new facility where they saw the impact of their fundraising efforts. Here’s what they had to say:
“It’s incredibly gratifying to see all your hard work turn into brick and mortar. The possibilities are endless for the future of cancer research.”
“I’m super excited about this opportunity to be able to tour the clean rooms,” says ESR alumna Shelley Unocic of Team Regulators. “It brings our fundraising full circle. We’re out there pedaling and raising money, and we never really get to see our dollar applied. We know that they go to research; we know they get matched by $23. But this just brings it all to light. It’s super amazing. I think my donors will be able to see where their dollars are going a little bit better.”
What’s Next for Igniting Cancer Breakthroughs
Roswell Park has established a powerhouse team spearheaded by:
- Deputy Director Renier Brentjens, MD, PhD, the Katherine Anne Gioia Endowed Chair in Cancer Medicine (and a fellow ESR alumni)
- Senior Vice President and Associate Director for Translational Research, Marco Davila, MD, PhD, the Rustum Family Endowed Chair in Translational Research
- Associate Director of Early Phase Clinical Trials for Solid Tumor Cell Therapies Anuradha Krishnamurthy, MBBS,
- Vice Chair of Clinical Affairs, Peter Maslak, MD.
Combined, these four doctors have 86 years of experience in cell therapy, which has proven to be one of the most promising treatments on this horizon for liquid cancers. Now, the jump can be made to finding applications for cell therapy on solid tumors. With the infrastructure and team in place, four new clinical trials are on the horizon as part of phase 2 of the donor-funded campaign that a portion of ESR funds support:
- Small Cell Lung and Prostate Cancer, led by Drs. Renier Brentjens and Edwin Yau
- Pancreatic Cancer, led by Drs. Brentjens, Anu Krishnamurthy and Leonid Cherkassky
- Ovarian Cancer, led by Drs. Marco Davila and Emese Zsiros
- Adult and Pediatric Sarcoma, led by Drs. Renier Brentjens, Ajay Gupta and Joyce Ohm (a long-standing ESR alumna)
The Role You’ve Played in Making this Milestone Possible
The opening of this state-of-the-art facility unlocks unlimited potential for the future of cancer care. Your support allows Roswell Park to secure a position as a global leader in life-saving technologies and cancer-fighting cell therapies across all cancer disciplines. This would not have been possible without you and your donors. A special thank you goes out to you and to the following riders who have committed their funds exclusively to this initiative:
- Terry Bourgeois
- Maria Coccia-Bourgeois
- Doug Eberhardt
Fundraising for the Igniting Cancer Breakthroughs campaign is ongoing and additional support is needed now more than ever to fuel the next phase.
Where You Come In
The construction and management of these state-of-the-art facilities comes with the need for a significant investment. Your support, along with a generous commitment from the New York State Economic Development Corporation, will help fund promising cellular therapy trials, complete the cell production facilities and continue to pursue cell therapy innovations.
If you are interested in taking your support of Igniting Cancer Breakthroughs to the next level, contact the fundraising team at EmpireStateRide@roswellpark.org.
