STCC Becomes First Southeast Asian Member of Roche’s imCORE Network

The Singapore Translational Cancer Consortium (STCC) Becomes First Southeast Asian Member of Roche’s imCORE Network of Leading Global Research Centres to Advance Understanding of Cancer Immunotherapy

• STCC is the first Southeast Asian member in the prestigious immunotherapy Centers Of Research Excellence (imCORE) Network.

• STCC is also imCORE’s first consortium member, leading a coalition of Singapore’s public healthcare and research institutions in the translational cancer research ecosystem, comprising the National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS), National University Cancer Institute, Singapore (NCIS), National University Hospital (NUH), National University of Singapore (NUS) and Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH). 

• The STCC-imCORE partnership aims to bolster Singapore’s drive to become a global leader in cancer immunotherapy (CIT) research and catalyse local access to innovative treatments through collaborative clinical studies.

The ceremonial signing of the core alliance agreement between STCC and Roche was witnessed by Guest-of-Honour Prof Tan Chorh Chuan, Permanent Secretary (National Research and Development), Prime Minister’s Office, and Chairman MOH Office for Healthcare Transformation (MOHT) on 24 July 2024.

SINGAPORE, 24 July, 2024 – STCC is proud to announce its participation in the Roche/Genentech-led, immunotherapy Centers Of Research Excellence (imCORE) Network, a global initiative aiming to advance CIT. STCC is the 27th member of the imCORE Network, the first from Southeast Asia and the first consortium to join. STCC enters this prestigious Network leading a coalition of Singapore’s public healthcare and research institutions in the translational cancer research ecosystem: National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS), National University Cancer Institute, Singapore (NCIS), National University Hospital (NUH), National University of Singapore (NUS) and Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH).

imCORE’s vision is to advance and extend the most promising new cancer immunotherapy treatment options for cancer patients. The imCORE Network unites both clinical and basic scientific experts from leading cancer research institutions worldwide alongside Roche and Genentech, in an open environment to collaborate on research, share information, expertise and technologies. imCORE has already achieved significant breakthroughs. Notably, the Network played a critical role in accelerating the development of a pancreatic cancer vaccine candidate that is currently in a Phase II trial (NCT05968326).

STCC’s participation in imCORE will catalyse and boost scientific exchange and collaborations across the full spectrum of CIT research. This includes pre-clinical, translational and real-world data (RWD) studies to solve cancer immunotherapy challenges, improve understanding of the tumour microenvironment in Asian populations, and accelerate the search for innovative cancer treatments.

It is a significant step towards STCC’s vision to establish Singapore as a cancer clinical trial hub and a global leader in translational cancer research, especially for cancers with higher prevalence or unique characteristics in Asian populations such as gastric cancer, head & neck cancer, lung cancer, liver cancer, clear cell ovarian carcinoma and Natural killer/T-cell lymphomas. 

Professor Chng Wee Joo, Executive Director, STCC, said, “The STCC-imCORE partnership is a significant milestone for Singapore’s cancer immunotherapy research community, and represents a unique opportunity to collaborate with the brightest minds in the field of cancer immunotherapy globally. Together with Roche, Genentech and imCORE, we hope to pioneer novel immunotherapeutic strategies that can address current unmet medical needs for patients in Singapore, and globally, demonstrate our commitment to scientific excellence and patient-centric innovation.”

Jacqueline Karmel, Chair, imCORE Executive Office, Roche, said, "Singapore is renowned for its scientific expertise, high-impact research, and world-class healthcare infrastructure. With STCC and its partner institutions now part of imCORE, our network is even stronger. We are thrilled about STCC’s co-creative spirit and excited to work together to make a meaningful impact on CIT research and bring the vision of imCORE to life for patients, both in Singapore and around the world.”

About Singapore Translational Cancer Consortium

STCC was established in 2020, as a nationally coordinated consortium to synergise cancer research capabilities in Singapore.

STCC brings together unmatched basic, clinical, and translational talent in Singapore to create globally significant peaks of excellence in selected Asian cancers. STCC's five joint platforms – Cancer Clinical Trials and Investigational Medicine Units, Cancer Databases and Tissue Banks, Translational Research Integration and Support, Business Intelligence and Development, and Impact and Population Health – provide an enabling research and innovation environment driven to foster translational research and meaningful outcomes for society.

Through these forged collaborative relationships between local cancer research groups and by capitalising on the strengths of industry and academia, STCC is uniquely poised to develop initiatives that are aligned with Singapore's goals in value-based healthcare innovation and economic value creation.

STCC is a programme of the Consortium for Clinical Research and Innovation, Singapore (CRIS), and is supported by the National Research Foundation, Singapore (NRF) and the Singapore Ministry of Health through the National Medical Research Council (NMRC) Office, MOH Holdings Pte Ltd.

For more information, please visit https://www.stcc.sg 

About the imCORE Network

imCORE is a global network of basic and clinical scientists from 27 leading cancer immunotherapy research institutions, collaborating to accelerate progress in cancer immunotherapy research and optimise outcomes for cancer patients.

imCORE represents Roche's most recent commitment to collaborate with the global cancer community to further understand the biology and immunology of cancer and to develop new treatments that may offer better outcomes for patients. 

By supporting over 100 pre-clinical, translational and clinical research studies, the imCORE network seeks to drive innovation from the bedside to the bench and back, in a continuous ‘learning loop’. Roche will work in collaboration with the network on existing and new investigational medicines, diagnostic technologies and emerging data. The network will also closely collaborate to identify and prioritise the most promising new treatment approaches and to rapidly conduct clinical trials to accelerate progress in the field.

About Roche Singapore

Founded in 1896 in Basel, Switzerland, as one of the first industrial manufacturers of branded medicines, Roche has grown into the world’s largest biotechnology company and the global leader in in-vitro diagnostics. The company pursues scientific excellence to discover and develop medicines and diagnostics for improving and saving the lives of people around the world. We are a pioneer in personalised healthcare and want to further transform how healthcare is delivered to have an even greater impact. To provide the best care for each person we partner with many stakeholders and combine our strengths in Diagnostics and Pharma with data insights from the clinical practice. 

Roche Singapore started operations in 1973 and has grown over 50 years into a local leader in innovative medicines and diagnostics across multiple disease areas. Today, Roche Singapore employs more than 1,000 people across its pharmaceuticals, diagnostics and manufacturing divisions.  

For more information, please visit www.roche.com.sg