UCLA School of Medicine/Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center
A key architect of pembrolizumab and other novel therapies
Acceptance Speech
Antoni Ribas, MD, PhD, is professor of medicine, surgery, and molecular
and medical pharmacology, director of the Tumor Immunology Program
Area, and member of the Signal Transduction and Therapeutics
Program Area at the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. His work
and accomplishments include:
Served as principal investigator on pivotal investigations of the PD-1
inhibitor pembrolizumab (Keytruda), which led the FDA to designate
the drug as a breakthrough therapy and then approve the agent in
September 2014
Conducted what is believed to be the largest phase I clinical trial in
the history of oncology at UCLA and 11 other sites, with more than
400 patients participating in the pembrolizumab trial
Engaged in leading research on targeted therapies in melanoma, including
the recent coBRIM trial of the combination of vemurafenib plus
cobimetinib in patients with locally advanced or metastatic melanoma
with a BRAF V600 mutation
Focusing on combination studies of immunotherapy and targeted
therapies for melanoma, and investigations of mechanisms of resistance
and toxicities
Received grants and awards to further his research, including a 2000
Career Development Award from the Conquer Cancer Foundation to
investigate immunotherapy for hepatocellular carcinoma
Serves as chair of the Melanoma Committee at SWOG and is currently
a member of the Journal of Clinical Oncology editorial board