What is the ATLAS Network?
ATLAS Network Countries
To date, the National Cancer Center Hospital has established good relationships with Europe and America, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, and China (Hong Kong). This network has now been expanded to include five more countries, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Philippines, and Indonesia, to address common issues related to anticancer drug development in Asia. These newly participating countries are referred to as ATLAS participating countries.
* ATLAS: Asian Clinical Trials Network for Cancers
Efforts to Improve the Quality of Clinical Trial Data
All of the medical institutions in ATLAS are actively conducting clinical trials. However, the National Cancer Center Hospital has purchased equipment to further strengthen the infrastructure and is also providing training support for local staff to ensure that they can handle leading-edge clinical trials. In particular, we offer free English-language versions of our online educational content, ICRweb, and we are also planning periodic hands-on training to be conducted in Japan. This will enable us to build high-quality data that can withstand regulatory approval in clinical trials conducted in various countries.
Furthermore, the Asia Partnerships Office (APO), the first overseas office of the National Cancer Center, was established in Bangkok, Thailand, and staff from the National Cancer Center Hospital are stationed there. The APO is being used as a base to maintain close communication between the countries involved and our hospital.
Contact with KOLs
The ATLAS project emphasizes collaboration with doctors and researchers leading clinical trials in various countries.
In addition to holding regular meetings with Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) in each country, we are deepening exchanges through various academic symposiums, educational seminars, and the like to build a “human network” that is necessary for drug development in Asia. Moreover, we are making efforts to build a network for the future by accepting young researchers for training at the National Cancer Center Hospital.
Coordination with Regulatory Agencies
The National Cancer Center Hospital holds symposiums and workshops with Asian countries and is cooperating in efforts to achieve regulatory harmonization with Asian countries. Furthermore, it also co-hosts international collaborative study seminars with the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA), Japan’s pharmaceutical regulatory authority, and pharmaceutical companies, overseas regulatory authorities, and overseas medical institutions are also planning to participate. We are continuing to promote the development of anticancer drugs in Asia by collaborating with industry, government, and academia in international collaborative clinical trials and educational activities.
Social Contributions
In cooperation with ATLAS participating countries and related countries such as South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, and China, we will promote the development of therapeutic drugs that are needed in Asia but have not yet been developed. Finally, we will also work to ensure that the people of Asia lead healthy and happy lives.
