NEC Joins the CONNECT Landmark Public-private Initiative for Precision Cancer Medicine

NEC Corporation announced that it has joined a landmark public-private initiative, the Norwegian Precision Cancer Medicine Implementation Consortium (CONNECT), a collaboration between 22 key public and private partners for promoting precision cancer medicine. CONNECT is one of four interconnected initiatives in Norway that will ensure infrastructure and collaboration on diagnostics, clinical trials, implementation of advanced precision medicine and use of health data, e.g., for health economics analysis.

By joining the network of this Norwegian consortium and leveraging advanced real-world data, NEC hopes to reinforce and accelerate its personalized cancer immunotherapy activities.

While more than 30,000 Norwegians are diagnosed with cancer every year, and the incidence is still increasing, more precise treatments can save lives. CONNECT is a new initiative aiming to ensure that precision medicine reaches the patients.

“A serious cancer disease is an existential challenge for the individual. Cancer research gives hope. The pharmaceutical industry and the public health sector, clinicians and executive authorities, have to collaborate to offer new treatments, balancing the latest research with hospital operations,” says Asmund Flobak, Oncologist at St Olav’s Hospital, Trondheim University Hospital.

The new initiative is a direct response to Health Minister Bent Hoie’s political guidance to accelerate the implementation of precision medicine for Norwegian patients. It also responds to the Health Minister’s ambition to increase research and collaboration between public and private actors, including hospitals, other public stakeholders, the Norwegian Cancer Society, and the pharmaceutical industry.