Merck, Eli Lilly and Pfizer announced a plan to create a not-for-profit company in Asia to speed up Cancer research and treatments.

The Asian Cancer Research Group has set an example of collaboration among major drug companies to combine resources and expertise to rapidly increase the knowledge of a disease and the disease process.

Merck is headquartered in Readington, Pfizer in New York and Eli Lilly in Indianapolis.

The three companies plan to create an extensive Pharmacogenomic Cancer Database, consisting of information taken from about 2,000 tissue samples from patients with lung and gastric cancer.

"Through its work and the subsequent sharing of information, the information, the Asian Cancer Research Group hopes to empower researchers, foster innovation and improve the prognosis and treatment of patients with cancer’’, said Gary Gilliand, Senior Vice President and Franchise Head, Oncology, Merck Research Laboratories.

The research group seeked inspiration from the non-profit Seattle-based Sage Bionetworks, founded by Stephen Friend, Ex-Head of Merck’s Cancer Research efforts.

Gastric cancer, the second largest cause of cancer death in the world, kills more than 630,000 patients per year, more people than all cancers combined in the United States.