MMRF Named as Finalist for the Prix Galien Patient First Award in Honor of Michael J. Fox

Recognition highlights the MMRF’s nearly three decades of patient-centered innovation in multiple myeloma.

The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation® (MMRF®) is proud to announce that the organization has been named as a finalist for the inaugural Prix Galien Patient First Award in Honor of Michael J. Fox for its unique, patient-centered nonprofit research model pioneered by founder Kathy Giusti.

“This recognition reflects Kathy’s vision when she founded the MMRF nearly three decades ago: that patient-centered innovation in drug development and medical research is critical to accelerate cures. That vision continues to guide everything we do nearly three decades later,” said MMRF President and CEO Mike Andreini. “We’re honored to be recognized among such an esteemed group of peer organizations that share our commitment to patients.”

Presented by the Galien Foundation, this award honors excellence in clinical research, trials, and other initiatives that “embody the principle ‘No decision for me without me.’” The Galien Foundation’s awards are widely respected in the life sciences, with the Prix Galien regarded as the biopharmaceutical industry’s equivalent of the Nobel Prize.

The MMRF was selected as a finalist for this award for our long-standing commitment to myeloma patients. The MMRF’s innovative initiatives, studies, and programs have changed how research is conducted, how data is shared, how stakeholders collaborate, and how new treatments are developed. As a result, more than 15 therapies have been approved for myeloma, dramatically improving patients’ quality of life and survival.

“Patients are experts in their own experience, and the best solutions are built with them, not for them. That idea has shaped the MMRF’s work from the beginning,” Giusti said. “I’m honored to see patient-centered innovation being recognized in this way and proud of the countless patients who have partnered with us to help change the course of this disease.”

From the start, the MMRF was built as a patient-led, patient-focused organization dedicated to accelerating treatments and finding a cure for myeloma. When Giusti and her twin sister, Karen, founded the organization in 1998, they set out to set out to identify the biggest obstacles slowing progress and create solutions to overcome them. At a time when myeloma treatment options were limited and the average five-year survival rate for the disease hovered just over 30 percent, Kathy and Karen recognized that an entirely new philanthropic model—independent of academic research centers, the federal government, and the pharmaceutical industry—was needed.

Over the past three decades, the MMRF has not only become a leading cancer research organization but a blueprint for how patient-driven organizations can catalyze change across an entire disease ecosystem. Whether the organization was creating the first multi-center tissue bank in myeloma, founding the disease’s first investment fund, uniting leading academic centers and industry partners to conduct early-stage clinical trials, or building one of the most complete molecular portraits of any cancer (the landmark MMRF CoMMpass^SM Study), the MMRF has built some of the field’s most innovative and impactful models, datasets, and resources.

Myeloma patients have played an integral role in every one of the MMRF’s major initiatives, with thousands donating samples and participating in clinical trials spearheaded by the MMRF’s clinical research subsidiary.

“This recognition belongs to the thousands of myeloma patients who have participated in MMRF studies, donated samples, shared their experiences, and pushed the field forward alongside the MMRF,” Giusti said. “Their partnership has shaped every major breakthrough in myeloma and continues to demonstrate what’s possible when patients are centered in research.”

The winners of the Prix Galien Patient First Award in Honor of Michael J. Fox will be announced during the Galien Patient Summit on October 29, 2026.