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The impact of Susan G. Komen-funded research on approved drugs for breast cancer treatment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 December 2025

Dana M. Brantley-Sieders
Affiliation:
Research Evaluation Manager, Applied Research & Evaluation, Susan G. Komen, Dallas, TX, USA
Lauren Leslie
Affiliation:
Research Program Evaluator, Applied Research & Evaluation, Susan G. Komen, Dallas, TX, USA
Kimberly Sabelko
Affiliation:
Vice President of Scientific Strategy & Programs, Susan G. Komen, Dallas, TX, USA
Amy M. Dworkin
Affiliation:
Director, Research Evaluation, Applied Research & Evaluation, Susan G. Komen, Dallas, TX, USA
Kari Wojtanik*
Affiliation:
Senior Director, Applied Research & Evaluation, Susan G. Komen, Dallas, TX, USA
*
Corresponding author: K. Wojtanik; Email: kwojtanik@komen.org
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Abstract

Introduction:

Susan G. Komen® (Komen) has invested nearly $1.1 billion in ground-breaking breast cancer research since 1982. As a patient-centered organization, Komen measures research funding impact beyond academic metrics in favor of economic value and societal effects. Here, we highlight an innovative approach to assessing the real-world impact of Komen-funded research by showing how Komen funding for pivotal studies and key personnel conducting research contributed to discovery and development of targeted therapy drugs approved to treat breast cancer by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) between 2012 and 2023.

Methods:

We utilized bibliometric analysis to work backwards through citations within pivotal Phase III clinical trial publications to identify earlier clinical trials, pre-clinical research, and basic research publications that supported development of each drug, evaluating each published study and contributing authors for Komen funding support.

Results:

All 19 targeted therapy drugs approved by the FDA between 2012 and 2023 were impacted at multiple phases along the drug development pipeline by Komen funding, including direct impacts in basic research (i.e., investments in projects) that supported target discovery, and impacts in support of key personnel who contributed to pivotal studies and clinical trials (i.e., investments in people) that led to approval.

Conclusions:

Nonprofit and public sector research funding provide the foundation for the drug development pipeline. This paper highlights an innovative approach to assess the impact of research investments beyond traditional academic measures and underscores the significance of nonprofit, patient-centered organizations like Komen in driving drug development through supporting basic and applied research.

Information

Type
Research Article
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, Inc., 2026. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Association for Clinical and Translational Science
Figure 0

Table 1. Nineteen drugs first FDA approved to treat breast cancer between 2012 and 2023

Figure 1

Table 2. Ten drugs that received one or two expanded FDA approvals to treat breast cancer between 2012 and 2023

Figure 2

Figure 1. Identifying Komen Touchpoints Across the Drug Development Pipeline. The drug development pipeline that brings drugs from the laboratory to the clinic involves basic research, pre-clinical research, clinical research in the form of clinical trials, and approval for clinical use and commercialization. Our goal was to identify Komen touchpoints, including Komen research funding for studies (direct touchpoints) and Komen research funding for key personnel who contributed to pivotal studies (investigator touchpoints) in the first three phases of the translational spectrum for each drug that contributed to eventual FDA approval.

Figure 3

Figure 2. Strategy for Identifying Pivotal Studies Across the Drug Development Pipeline. 19 drugs FDA approved to treat breast cancer between 2012 and 2023 were identified. Next, pivotal Phase III trials were identified from prescribing information labels and press releases. Bibliometric linkage analysis of citations from pivotal Phase III clinical trial study publications was performed using Application Programming Interface (API) technology in the Dimensions® for Funders platform, working backwards to capture pivotal Phase II and Phase I clinical trial studies, pre-clinical studies, and basic research studies. The process was repeated for citation results from Phase II and Phase I study publications and pre-clinical research publications, de-duplicating using the API. Certain types of publications were manually excluded. This process identified pivotal study publications that led to FDA approval of 19 drugs between 2012 and 2023.

Figure 4

Figure 3. Touchpoints for First FDA Approval of Drugs by Research Category. Drugs are listed by their generic (non-trade) names with date of first approval in parentheses. Komen touchpoints across phases of the drug development pipeline, including basic research, pre-clinical research, and clinical research (Phase I, Phase II, and Phase III clinical trials) are shown. Drugs that had both direct and investigator touchpoints in the research category are noted in dark blue. Drugs that had only investigator touchpoints in the research category are noted in light blue. White indicates that no touchpoints were found.

Figure 5

Table 3. Overall investigator and direct komen touchpoints for nineteen drugs first FDA approved to treat breast cancer between 2012 and 2023 by research phase

Figure 6

Figure 4. Touchpoints for Expanded FDA Approval of Drugs by Research Phase. Ten drugs that received expanded FDA approvals between 2012 and 2023 are listed by their generic (non-trade names). Five drugs received a second expanded approval within this timeframe. Komen investigator touchpoints across phases within the drug development pipeline, including pre-clinical research and clinical research (Phase I, Phase II, and Phase III clinical trials) are shown in light blue. White indicates that no touchpoints were found in the research category. NA indicates that the drug did not receive a second expanded approval within this timeframe. Few if any basic research studies were identified as fundamental studies for expanded drug approvals, and no Komen touchpoints were identified in these studies. No direct touchpoints were identified for expanded approvals.

Figure 7

Table 4. Survival data from phase III clinical trials for nineteen drugs first FDA approved to treat breast cancer between 2012 and 2023