Pfizer donates $1.1 million to canine tumor bank

New York - 2/27/07 - Pfizer Animal Health donated $1.1 million to the Morris Animal Foundation (MAF) to establish a national canine tumor biospecimen bank.The bank is expected to be valuable in treating dogs and may provide insights into human cancer. Funds for the tumor bank are restricted to the Canine Comparative Oncology and Geriatrics Consortium (CCOGC), a group of veterinary and medical researchers who have determined that a well-described repository of canine-tumor tissues is an essential resource for progress in new cancer therapies.Named the Pfizer-CCOGC Biospecimen Repository, the new resource will be located in Bethesda, Md. Once completed, the tissue bank will contain about 3,000 samples, including 600 osteosarcomas, 600 lymphomas and 600 melanomas, with the remaining 1,200 specimens drawn from other cancers.MAF took the lead in securing the donation and will provide oversight to monitor the progress of the CCOGC in collection, storage and distribution of tumor samples. MAF and AKC Canine Health Foundation provided the initial funding ($500,000) to launch the biospecimen bank and will be collaborating to secure remaining funds. The estimated total cost to populate the tissue bank is $2.2 million, with an expected population timeframe of three years.