Situation
Follicular lymphoma (FL) is a B-cell, non-Hodgkin lymphoma that vacillates between periods of remission and relapse. Most patients with this rare, slow-growing cancer experience multiple relapses over the course of their disease, which can run for years, sometimes decades. For a small number of patients, the disease progresses much faster, and they face five-year survival rates as low as 50 percent. Like many cancers, FL is a disease with several root causes. Identifying and developing treatments with the intent of curing FL thus requires a compendium of therapies and techniques.
The Follicular Lymphoma Foundation (FLF) engaged MI Philanthropy to identify the most promising areas of research where an infusion of philanthropic capital could accelerate the development of therapies that could cure FL at first relapse.
Approach
With FLF’s goal in mind, MI Philanthropy embarked on a multistage process of deep due diligence to identify, characterize, and prioritize the therapeutic areas, modalities, and specific molecular targets best positioned to achieve the vision of curing FL at the point of first relapse.
Based on our findings, the Institute proposed a two-track funding program for immunotherapy, including CAR T therapy, and targeted therapies like epigenetic regulators. Our work to landscape and prioritize informed the launch of FLF’s inaugural funding program—the FLF Curative Research to Eliminate Follicular Lymphoma (CURE FL) Awards—a philanthropic funding program to advance and develop curative therapies for FL patients.
Outcomes and Next Steps
The CURE FL Awards launched in January 2022 with a request for proposals (RFP) focused on immunotherapy as well as targeted therapies for FL. MI Philanthropy led the implementation of this grant program, crafting and distributing the RFP, managing a rigorous and multifaceted review process, and coordinating funding deployment. In this first cycle, FLF funded four proposals up to $500,000 for a total of $2 million over two years.
The CURE FL Awards program was designed and executed to ensure that funding is, and will continue to be, directed strategically toward discovering a cure. Over time, funds will be directed to areas of scientific need that meet patients’ interests, focus R&D exclusively on FL therapies, and ensure that FLF makes the best use of philanthropic capital to de-risk innovative ideas and, most importantly, accelerate the path to clinical care.