OneOncology Research Network Will Enhance Practices’ High-Quality Clinical Trials Programs While Improving Patients’ Access to Innovative Oncology Therapies

Nashville, TN – October 19, 2020 – OneOncology, the partnership of independent oncology practices, today announced the formation of a separate subsidiary, the OneOncology Research Network (OneR). OneR is a national non-exclusive clinical trial site management organization (SMO) that will enhance the current high-performing research programs underway at participating community oncology practices by providing operational, regulatory and research support services to more efficiently execute multi-center clinical trials.

Since clinical trials are increasingly integral to the standard of care for precision oncology, the OneR platform will expand community practices’ access to more innovative therapies for their patients. At the same time, OneR provides clinical trial sponsors access to the large and diverse populations of patients who are treated in community centers throughout their cancer journey, and not episodic as is more common in research-based academic centers. With a majority of cancer care being delivered in community-based centers, OneR ensures diversity in clinical trial participation including ethnicity, gender, geography, disease status, socioeconomics and various other dimensions.

“OneR is a community oncology network designed for and built by community oncology practices,” said Lee Schwartzberg, MD, Chief Medical Officer, OneOncology and Medical Director, West Cancer Center. “Our north star is improving the lives of everyone with cancer which is fundamentally dependent on advancing the science of oncology treatments. We look forward to working with practices and sponsors who want to expand diverse patient access to precision oncology and other high-quality cancer clinical trials through our portfolio of therapeutic and observational studies.”

OneR’s focus on precision oncology will offer clinical trials across tumor types with innovative trial designs based on precision oncology to oncology practices within the network like basket and umbrella trials. A basket trial tests how well a new drug works in patients who have different types of cancer that all have the same mutation or biomarker. In umbrella trials, patients with one specific cancer receive treatment based on the molecular profile of their individual cancer.

“With too many of our patients disproportionately impacted by health disparities, we believe that by providing community oncology practices with enhanced operational efficiencies we can ensure that more patients will benefit from the groundbreaking clinical trials,” said Axel Grothey, MD, Medical Director, OneR and Director, GI Cancer Research, West Cancer Center. “OneR will not only improve patient access to cutting-edge care, it will also help to advance scientific discovery.”    

As oncology practices invest in their clinical trial infrastructure and conduct more trials, OneR’s efforts will enhance a practice’s ability to increase clinical trial participation, by centralizing business functions, regulatory submissions and clinical trial matching technology while also ensuring practices maintain their flexibility to participate in other clinical trial initiatives. OneOncology’s technology platform and collaboration throughout the network allows for seamless clinical trial management across all of its research sites. As a non-exclusive SMO, practices are not limited to only participate in OneR clinical trial programs.

OneR will be co-headquartered in Nashville and Memphis, TN. To learn more, visit oneoncology.com or LinkedIn.