The MMRC is pleased to announce that an additional two academic institutions have joined its innovative research model. The University of Michican and Washington University in St. Louis, Mo., join leading academic institutions already conducting novel research and discovery efforts through the MMRC, bringing the total number of MMRC Member Institutions to 13. The addition of these new centers will accelerate the pace by which tissue samples are accrued into the MMRC Tissue Bank and will enable the MMRC to support additional Phase I and Phase II clinical trials and associated correlative studies.

The MMRC has partnered with Semafore to evaluate the activity of SF1126, a novel PI3 kinase inhibitor, on in vitro and in vivo models of multiple myeloma. Researchers at Consortium member institutions Emory University and Mayo Clinic will also evaluate the activity of the compound in combination with other therapies, including Velcade®. These data will potentially provide rationale for the clinical development of this novel compound.

The MMRC is pleased to announce that its Data Bank, developed by LabVantage as a configured Sapphire BioBanking Solution, is now able to perform ad-hoc and pre-configured queries on highly annotated tissue samples, comprehensive clinical data and medical histories, and experimental data generated by MMRC research efforts. These functions are essential to advancing the MMRC's pre-clinical projects, clinical trials and correlative studies, and the Multiple Myeloma Genomics Initiative.