Congratulations to Drs. Jean Wang and John Dick of the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, along with Dr. Jayne Danska of SickKids Research Institute, on winning UHN’s 2024 Inventor of the Year Award.
Drs. Wang, Dick, and Danska are recognized for their innovative work in cancer immunotherapy, identifying a novel mechanism by which cancer cells evade destruction. A discovery made decades ago at UHN and The Hospital for Sick Children led to a multibillion-dollar pharmaceutical deal, shaping new cancer treatments.
At the heart of their discovery lies the immune system’s ability to detect and destroy cancer cells. Cancer cells use a deceptive signal, nicknamed the ‘Don’t Eat Me’ signal, to evade immune attacks. The researchers developed a novel molecule, TTI-621, that targets a key molecule on cancer cells, CD47, blocking the transmission of the 'Dont Eat Me' signal and allowing the immune system to recognize and eliminate cancer cells more effectively.
This discovery laid the foundation for UHN start up, Trillium Therapeutics, launched in 2004 to commercialize this technology. In 2022, Pfizer Inc. acquired Trillium Therapeutics in a US$2.22 billion deal to further develop TTI-621, renaming the drug Maplirpacept. As of February 2025, Maplirpacept remains in global Phase II clinical trials for the treatment of a variety of blood cancers.
The award was presented to Drs. Wang, Dick, and Danska at UHN’s inaugural Mission Excellence Awards, which celebrate individuals and teams making outstanding contributions toward UHN’s vision of A Healthier World. See the full list of Mission Excellence Awards winners here and learn more about the discovery and commercialization of TTI-621 here.
The Inventor of the Year award is sponsored by Commercialization at UHN and recognizes an individual or team whose invention has made a substantial commercialization impact, contributing to UHN’s mission of ‘A Healthier World’. Read the full announcement here.