Strengthening Health and Biomedical Research Efforts to Improve Health Outcomes

17 April 2018

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Three New Research Projects Awarded Open Fund-Large Collaborative Grants and New Clinician Innovator Award to be Piloted

1. To support research discoveries that can be translated into healthcare solutions, innovative medicines and medical devices that benefit Singapore and Singaporeans, the Ministry of Health (MOH)’s National Medical Research Council (NMRC) has awarded $60 million to three new research projects under the (OF-LCG) programme. NMRC has also launched the pilot of a Clinician Innovator Award. These initiatives were announced at the NMRC Awards Ceremony and Research Symposium 2018 today.

2. Singapore’s Health and Biomedical Sciences (HBMS) initiative has built a strong foundation of research capabilities and expanded beyond basic to translational and clinical research. In line with the Research, Innovation and Enterprise (RIE) 2020 strategic goals, HBMS efforts are aimed at developing an ecosystem for the pursuit and translation of research into knowledge, products or services that improve health outcomes and create economic value. Having a strong core and pipeline of clinician-scientists, researchers, innovators and entrepreneurs is critical to this ecosystem.

Three New Projects Awarded Open Fund-Large Collaborative Grants

3. The Open Fund-Large Collaborative Grant (OF-LCG) advances the study of diseases, translates clinical findings into practice and provides opportunities for international partnerships and industry collaborations. Collaborations across disciplines, agencies and researchers are emphasised so as to capitalise on the full spectrum of research capabilities in Singapore. Research teams are encouraged to address five priority disease areas based on national needs and level of current scientific base in Singapore, namely cancers; cardiovascular diseases; diabetes mellitus and related metabolic/endocrine conditions; infectious diseases; and neurological and sense disorders.

4. This year, the OF-LCG has been awarded to three new teams. The total grant amount comes up to about $60 million over five years[1]. The three projects address areas of healthcare importance to Singapore and Asia, and have strong potential to deliver health outcomes and economic value. More details are provided at the Annex.

Viral-driven Cancers. This project seeks to tackle incompletely understood cancers that arise from distinct viruses. These include nasopharyngeal cancer, NKT lymphoma, gastric cancer, liver cancer, oropharynx and cervical cancer, which combine for nearly 40% of cancers in Asia and 10% of cancer incidence in Singapore. The team aims to identify new treatments to reset these alterations, so that the cancers can be destroyed by immunotherapies.
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD). AMD, which rises with an ageing population, is a major cause of vision loss. This project will adopt a broad-based and inter-linked “bench to bedside to population” approach. The objectives are to address clinical, public health and research gaps in the optimal management of AMD and to reduce visual loss and blindness from Asian AMD patients.
Lung Cancer. Lung cancer continues to be a leading cause of cancer deaths in Singapore. While progress has been made from smoking cessation efforts, there has been an increase in non-smoker related non-small cell lung cancer, which is associated with the Asian ethnicity and also the most prevalent form of lung cancer in Singapore. This project seeks to improve understanding of the disease and to discover new ways of detection and treatments that can improve survival outcomes.

New Clinician Innovator Award

5. To encourage medical innovation among clinicians, NMRC has launched the pilot Clinician Innovator Award. Focused on clinicians who are interested in developing new medical technologies or devices to improve medical diagnosis and treatments, the scheme provides seed funding of up to $100,000 over two years per award, as well as salary support for protected time for clinicians to develop their ideas.

6. Close to $1.8 million has been set aside for the pilot scheme, which could fund up to eight Clinician Innovators over the next three years. The first grant call for the pilot scheme will be launched in May 2018.

7. Should the projects show positive preliminary results, the clinicians can apply for subsequent funding through schemes such as the National Health Innovation Centre[2] (NHIC)’s innovation grants to work towards further commercialisation. NMRC and NHIC will work closely to support the award recipients and guide their progress.

8. Together, these initiatives will strengthen our health and biomedical research efforts and their translation to better health outcomes for Singaporeans.

ANNEX

Table: Research Proposals Awarded under May 2017 OF-LCG Grant Call

Table caption

Title of Research Programme	Description
The VICTORY (Virus-Induced Cancer: Translational Oncology Research & immunologY) Consortium	This programme brings together local and international experts to comprehensively tackle the incompletely understood cancers that arise from distinct viruses that can influence and transform normal cells to become cancerous, including nasopharyngeal cancer, NKT lymphoma, gastric cancer, liver cancer, oropharynx, and cervical cancer. Combined, these virus-driven cancers (VDCs) make up nearly 40per cent all cancers in Asia and over 60 per cent of all VDCs globally. VDCs are clinically different, but share important common elements, some of which are yet to be uncovered. For instance, they are triggered by, or strongly related to viruses such as Hepatitis B Virus, Human Papilloma Virus, and Epstein Barr Virus, and they respond partially to therapies which attempt to activate the body’s immune system, but fall short often, in spite of the fact that virus proteins are foreign to the body’s immune defence system. Rather than looking at individual mechanisms, molecules or tissues, the team proposes to study holistically the complex relationship between the cancers, its microenvironment, the body’s immune system and metabolism in a coordinated and dynamic way. The team will study these interactions to identify new targets for new treatments, aimed at restoring the vulnerability of the cancer to immunotherapies by resetting the alterations which the respective viruses have induced. Novel approaches including combinations in robust animal models (including human) with intact immune systems will be tested. The outcomes of this strategy will be directly impactful to society - generating new therapies, informed by signatures in the body that can inform if the immunotherapies work well or not. Corresponding Principal Investigator Name: A/Prof Toh Han Chong Designation: Deputy Director, Senior Consultant, Associate Professor Institution: National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS) Amount awarded: $25 million
TAAP: Translational Asian Age-related macular degeneration Program	Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a major cause of vision loss, leading to enormous socioeconomic and healthcare cost, which is rising rapidly due to an ageing population. Despite progress made with new therapies (e.g., anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) agents), significant clinical, public health and research gaps remain in the optimal management of AMD, particularly in Asia. The team’s research seeks to reduce visual loss and blindness from AMD and improve quality of life in patients with this chronic neurodegenerative condition. The goal is aligned to the HBMS’s vision: the programme will address the understanding of this important blinding condition. The bench-to-bedside-to-population programme will provide in-depth longitudinal data of clinical features, risk factors, and treatment response of AMD in Asians, allowing unique insights into pathogenesis and the discovery of novel biomarkers. The objectives of the proposed TAAP programme are to address the unmet clinical and population needs by a broad-based inter-linked “bench to bedside to population” approach, with the following specific aims which are aligned with clinical needs, industry interest and addresses the issue of ageing. Corresponding Principal Investigator Name: A/Prof Gemmy Cheung Designation: Associate Professor & Head, Senior Consultant Institution: Singapore Eye Research Institute/ Singapore National Eye Centre Amount awarded: $24 million
Next-Generation Clinical Trials and Integrative Research for Fighting Lung Cancer	Lung cancer is a leading cause of cancer deaths in Singapore. While treatment outcomes have improved gradually over the past decade, there is still an urgent need to improve our understanding of this disease in our local patients, and to look at new ways of treatment to improve the survival outcome. In addition, we need to look for new ways of detecting and diagnosing this cancer at an earlier stage, which will result in higher cure rate. The team, comprising experienced clinicians and scientists from the major cancer centres, universities and research institutes in Singapore, plans to enrol suitable lung cancer patient in clinical trials involving new anti-cancer agents. Participating patients will be required to undergo procedures to extract small samples of the tumour, and donate blood samples to allow a deeper understanding of the cancer biology. By integrating the latest tools in genetic, experimental, and computational analyses together with the use of the latest anti-cancer drugs, the team’s goal is to significantly improve the survival outcome of lung cancer patients in Singapore. Corresponding Principal Investigator Name: Dr Tan Eng Huat Designation: Senior Consultant Institution: National Cancer Centre Singapore Amount awarded: $10 million

Title of Research Programme

Description

The VICTORY (Virus-Induced Cancer: Translational Oncology Research & immunologY) Consortium

This programme brings together local and international experts to comprehensively tackle the incompletely understood cancers that arise from distinct viruses that can influence and transform normal cells to become cancerous, including nasopharyngeal cancer, NKT lymphoma, gastric cancer, liver cancer, oropharynx, and cervical cancer. Combined, these virus-driven cancers (VDCs) make up nearly 40per cent all cancers in Asia and over 60 per cent of all VDCs globally.

VDCs are clinically different, but share important common elements, some of which are yet to be uncovered. For instance, they are triggered by, or strongly related to viruses such as Hepatitis B Virus, Human Papilloma Virus, and Epstein Barr Virus, and they respond partially to therapies which attempt to activate the body’s immune system, but fall short often, in spite of the fact that virus proteins are foreign to the body’s immune defence system.

Rather than looking at individual mechanisms, molecules or tissues, the team proposes to study holistically the complex relationship between the cancers, its microenvironment, the body’s immune system and metabolism in a coordinated and dynamic way. The team will study these interactions to identify new targets for new treatments, aimed at restoring the vulnerability of the cancer to immunotherapies by resetting the alterations which the respective viruses have induced. Novel approaches including combinations in robust animal models (including human) with intact immune systems will be tested. The outcomes of this strategy will be directly impactful to society - generating new therapies, informed by signatures in the body that can inform if the immunotherapies work well or not.

Corresponding Principal Investigator

Name: A/Prof Toh Han Chong

Designation: Deputy Director, Senior Consultant, Associate Professor

Institution: National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS)

Amount awarded: $25 million

TAAP: Translational Asian Age-related macular degeneration Program

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a major cause of vision loss, leading to enormous socioeconomic and healthcare cost, which is rising rapidly due to an ageing population. Despite progress made with new therapies (e.g., anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) agents), significant clinical, public health and research gaps remain in the optimal management of AMD, particularly in Asia.

The team’s research seeks to reduce visual loss and blindness from AMD and improve quality of life in patients with this chronic neurodegenerative condition. The goal is aligned to the HBMS’s vision: the programme will address the understanding of this important blinding condition. The bench-to-bedside-to-population programme will provide in-depth longitudinal data of clinical features, risk factors, and treatment response of AMD in Asians, allowing unique insights into pathogenesis and the discovery of novel biomarkers.

The objectives of the proposed TAAP programme are to address the unmet clinical and population needs by a broad-based inter-linked “bench to bedside to population” approach, with the following specific aims which are aligned with clinical needs, industry interest and addresses the issue of ageing.

Corresponding Principal Investigator

Name: A/Prof Gemmy Cheung

Designation: Associate Professor & Head, Senior Consultant

Institution: Singapore Eye Research Institute/ Singapore National Eye Centre

Amount awarded: $24 million

Next-Generation Clinical Trials and Integrative Research for Fighting Lung Cancer

Lung cancer is a leading cause of cancer deaths in Singapore. While treatment outcomes have improved gradually over the past decade, there is still an urgent need to improve our understanding of this disease in our local patients, and to look at new ways of treatment to improve the survival outcome. In addition, we need to look for new ways of detecting and diagnosing this cancer at an earlier stage, which will result in higher cure rate.

The team, comprising experienced clinicians and scientists from the major cancer centres, universities and research institutes in Singapore, plans to enrol suitable lung cancer patient in clinical trials involving new anti-cancer agents.

Participating patients will be required to undergo procedures to extract small samples of the tumour, and donate blood samples to allow a deeper understanding of the cancer biology. By integrating the latest tools in genetic, experimental, and computational analyses together with the use of the latest anti-cancer drugs, the team’s goal is to significantly improve the survival outcome of lung cancer patients in Singapore.

Corresponding Principal Investigator

Name: Dr Tan Eng Huat

Designation: Senior Consultant

Institution: National Cancer Centre Singapore

Amount awarded: $10 million

[1] In 2017, one project - DYNAMO (Diabetes study on Nephropathy and other Microvascular complications) - was awarded a $25 million grant over five years. The project seeks to address diabetic renal disease and identify new treatments for kidney complications from diabetes. DYNAMO’s work will support our War on Diabetes.

[2] NHIC supports the development of innovative technologies and services to improve healthcare delivery and patient care.