The Pfizer Prize Foundation selected 11 studies and 21 researchers, including Dr. Fernando P. Canale, Dr. Camilla Basso and Professor Roger Geiger of the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB) and Dr. Nicolò Pernigoni, Dr. Elena Zagato and Professor Arianna Calcinotto of the Institute of Oncology Research (IOR).
Zurich, January 28, 2023 – The 32nd Pfizer Prize for Research ceremony was held in Zurich on January 26. For the Oncology, the Pfizer Prize, worth 15,000 Swiss Francs, goes to two important research projects carried out in Bellinzona, Ticino.
The first, published in Nature and for which Dr. Fernando P. Canale, Dr. Camilla Basso and Prof. Roger Geiger of the IRB will be awarded, concerns a possible improvement in the efficacy of cancer immunotherapy achieved by exploiting the ability of some bacteria to survive inside tumors.
Read more about the research.
The second research, published in Science and for which Dr. Nicolò Pernigoni, Dr. Elena Zagato and Prof. Arianna Calcinotto of the IOR will be awarded, concerns the resistance of prostate tumors to anti-androgen therapy. In particular, the role of the gut microbiota, the population of microorganisms living in our intestines, has been identified, paving the way for new therapies.
“This discovery has inspired the design and starting of the first clinical trial assessing the role of gut microbiota in CRPC patients, and the opening of a IOR spin off company” say the authors. “The mission of the new start-up is to cure prostate cancer patients using bacterial-based therapies, for that we are looking for investors that can help to make our dream reality.”
Read more about the research.
IRB and IOR papers honored by the 32nd Pfizer Research Prize.
“Commensal bacteria promote endocrine resistance in prostate cancer through androgen biosynthesis.”
Dr. Nicolò Pernigoni, Dr. Elena Zagato, Prof. Arianna Calcinotto; Istituto Oncologico di Ricerca (IOR), Bellinzona; Istituto Oncologico della Svizzera Italiana (IOSI), Bellinzona; Università della Svizzera Italiana, Lugano.
“Metabolic modulation of tumors with engineered bacteria for immunotherapy.”
Dr. Fernando P. Canale, Dr. Camilla Basso, Prof. Dr. Roger Geiger; Istituto di Ricerca in Biomedicina (IRB), Bellinzona; Istituto Oncologico di Ricerca (IOR), Bellinzona; Ente Ospedaliero Cantonale (EOC), Bellinzona; Università della Svizzera italiana, Lugano
