Accelerating Impact Through Global Partnership
About 115,000 people in Florida are diagnosed with cancer each year. More than 2 million are expected to be diagnosed in the U.S. in 2025. On a global scale, that number is expected to grow to more than 35 million new cases each year by 2050.
With cancer cases on the rise globally, Moffitt Cancer Center is redefining the cancer treatment landscape through a series of groundbreaking international partnerships. These alliances are expanding Moffitt’s reach and revolutionizing how cancer therapies are developed and delivered. By collaborating with top-tier international organizations, Moffitt is fast-tracking the availability of innovative treatments and addressing critical clinical challenges. From cutting-edge cell therapies to pioneering vaccine trials, these partnerships are setting new benchmarks in oncology and bringing hope to patients worldwide.
Two transformative partnerships focused on next-generation cell therapy are addressing the demand for smarter, faster and more accessible cancer treatments. With AstraZeneca and Galapagos, Moffitt is rethinking how cell therapies are developed, manufactured and delivered.
Moffitt is introducing decentralized chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR T) manufacturing to the Southeastern United States through a partnership signed in April 2025 with Galapagos, a biotechnology company based in Belgium. CAR T therapy uses the body’s own immune cells to destroy cancerous cells. However, one study showed that only 25% of patients who are eligible for CAR T therapy received the treatment, often with long wait times. With this partnership, Moffitt will become a Galapagos production site for CAR T therapies that will be distributed to patients throughout the Southeast. This will shift production closer to many patients and reduce turnaround time from several weeks to seven days. For patients with aggressive, treatment-resistant cancers, this difference can be critical.
“We see this as a way to eliminate delays and bottlenecks in delivering CAR T therapies,” said Xavier Avat, Moffitt’s chief business officer. “By leveraging Galapagos’ platform and integrating it with our clinical and manufacturing infrastructure, we can provide patients with faster access to potentially lifesaving treatments.”
Speed and efficiency are also central to Moffitt’s collaboration with AstraZeneca, a global pharmaceutical company based in the United Kingdom. This alliance, formed in September 2024, gives AstraZeneca access to Moffitt’s clinical network, where physician-scientists will advance investigational CAR T and T-cell receptor (TCR) therapies, particularly for solid tumors. These therapies have shown promise in blood cancers but remain challenging to implement in solid tumors. The collaboration is designed to tackle that complexity by combining Moffitt’s clinical insight with AstraZeneca’s scientific pipeline and global scale.
Beyond cell therapy, Moffitt’s international partnerships are opening new doors for clinical development. In February 2025, the cancer center entered a strategic alliance with South Korea’s 1ST Biotherapeutics to advance the development of a novel HPK1 inhibitor with potential applications across several solid tumor types. Moffitt researchers are leading a phase 1/2 clinical trial of the compound, which is also being evaluated in combination with existing immunotherapies. The alliance is designed to move scientific discoveries more efficiently into clinical applications, with both organizations contributing resources and expertise to accelerate the process.
Through a new partnership with CMIC Group in Japan, Moffitt has laid the groundwork for faster and more diverse global clinical trials. CMIC will support trial operations in Japan and the Asia-Pacific region, while Moffitt becomes a U.S. clinical trial site for CMIC-sponsored studies. The agreement, signed in September 2024, strengthens Moffitt’s ability to enroll patients from a broader population base and helps navigate complex regulatory pathways across international markets. This approach improves trial design and access.
These collaborations go beyond geographic expansion. They represent Moffitt’s strategy of aligning with forward-thinking organizations to address complex clinical and operational challenges. By prioritizing speed, scalability and integration, each partnership supports the cancer center’s vision of creating revolutionary breakthroughs and innovations that rapidly impact patients’ lives.
“Cancer is a global challenge, and we believe partnerships like this will accelerate a global solution,” Avat said. “At Moffitt, we aim to work with the best minds around the world to develop the innovations that will ultimately save more lives.”
