"Care everywhere and for everyone"

For the first time, this collaboration will enable patients on Réunion and Mayotte to be included in academic therapeutic trials conducted by the FFCD.

Réunion, like the other French overseas departments and regions (DROM-COM), is facing unique health challenges, particularly in the field of oncology, where access to innovative academic clinical trials in digestive oncology has until now been closed. It is in this context that the collaboration between the FFCD and CLINIFUTUR takes on its full meaning.

Indeed, CLINIFUTUR, with its motivated teams, state-of-the-art infrastructure and equipment, represents a major asset in the fight against digestive cancer by opening up access to the FFCD's clinical trials to its digestive cancer patients as of this year.

This challenge was met thanks to the close collaboration between CLINIFUTUR, the SCERI Research & Innovation Department, headed by Laurence Culine, and the FFCD. SCERI currently brings together 56 independent private hospitals. It is the 2nd largest private player in clinical research according to the national MERRI ranking.

"This agreement between the FFCD and CLINIFUTUR illustrates our shared commitment to improving treatments for digestive cancer, and demonstrates the FFCD's desire to build high-quality academic research with the French overseas departments and regions in order to offer patients the best possible conditions of access to innovative research, wherever they may be", says Thomas Aparicio, President of the FFCD.

"This initiative represents a giant step towards equal access to treatment and clinical trials for all patients. It will also make it possible to enrich the data on the population of Réunion and encourage the emergence of new therapeutic advances", says the general management of the CLINIFUTUR healthcare group.

Le Groupe de Santé CLINIFUTUR

With more than 30 years' experience in healthcare on Réunion and Mayotte, the CLINIFUTUR Group comprises 14 MCO and SMR establishments on Réunion and Mayotte. With almost 1,200 beds and 202 practitioners, it has built up a versatile range of healthcare services to meet the needs of the population of Réunion.

The activity of its establishments places it among the top 10 private hospital groups in France. The Group accounts for 80% of the private hospital sector's medical, surgical and obstetric capacity on Réunion.

The Oncology-Radiotherapy Centre at the Clinique Sainte-Clotilde is a leading, high-tech cancer treatment centre on La Réunion, offering comprehensive cancer care. It is committed to improving the health of the population through its involvement in clinical research, and through the innovative therapies it offers, in particular using its latest-generation radiotherapy equipment.

The Group has placed clinical research and innovation at the heart of its priorities by welcoming the Clinical Research and Innovation Division, headed by Marie-Pierre LAGARDE. A real lever for modern medicine, its role is to promote clinical medical research and innovation among doctors and carers, in conjunction with local and metropolitan partners, institutions and learned societies. Because clinical medical research and innovation are a guarantee of quality, modernity and attractiveness, the CLINIFUTUR Health Group has resolutely chosen the future of health and innovation for Réunion and its population.

LE GCS SCERI

SCERI is a Groupement de Coopération Sanitaire dedicated to clinical research and innovation. It brings together the member establishments of SantéCité who wish to deploy clinical research within their organisation. SCERI has a Clinical Research & Innovation Department which :

• guides the management of member institutions by providing them with support tailored to their needs in terms of structuring, organising and promoting research;
• supports research professionals and researchers in their scientific work, from idea to publication. SCERI offers a range of services in the fields of methodology, biostatistics, data management, project management, technical and regulatory affairs, vigilance, medical writing, legal affairs, etc. It provides access to a Research Ethics Board (IRB);
• federates and trains the research network on a day-to-day basis in all aspects of regulation and quality, among other things. It helps them to set up and manage their clinical trials department;
• represents the interests of its members within ministerial bodies (DGOS) and the federation (FHP).

SCERI currently brings together 56 independent private hospitals, making it the 2nd largest private player in clinical research according to the national MERRI ranking.

La FFCD

The only French cooperative group exclusively dedicated to digestive cancer, the Fédération Francophone de Cancérologie, founded in 1981, is a non-profit-making association under the French Law of 1901, based on the voluntary commitment of national investigating physicians.

The FFCD works with a network of multidisciplinary investigators throughout France and in all types of establishments (university hospitals, general hospitals, cancer centres and private clinics). Its two main areas of activity are clinical research and continuing education. The FFCD's operational activity is focused on the coordination and implementation of therapeutic trials, mainly in phases II and III. Thanks to its Centre de Randomisation Gestion Analyse (CRGA), the FFCD has, for the past thirty years, enabled the deployment of independent, multidisciplinary academic research contributing to therapeutic advances in the field of digestive oncology.

Since 1988, the FFCD has been :

• 110 therapeutic trials in 250 investigating centres, involving 18,000 patients.
• More than 100 research programmes conducted, 18,000 patients included.
• 150 publications in international journals.
• Changes in therapeutic standards.

The FFCD's original organisation, which promotes therapeutic innovation throughout France, has been approved by the French National Cancer Institute (INCa).