Voices for paediatric progress: Iris Valtingojer

Addressing systematic challenges across paediatric cancer

We recently sat down with Iris Valtingojer, PhD, a leader in childhood cancer R&D with two decades of experience in oncology drug discovery. Like many in the field, Dr. Valtingojer believes that meaningful progress for childhood cancer can only happen with cross-functional collaboration.

What keeps me going is the belief that this is more than a job – it is a duty to future generations. We must work together to ensure children are not left behind in cancer innovation.

— Iris Valtingojer, Childhood Cancer R&D CSR Research Lead, Sanofi

In advance of the conversation, panelist Dr. Valtingojer shared her insights on the power of partnerships, her motivation behind working in childhood cancer R&D and innovative technologies that she believes have the potential to transform the field and patient outcomes. An edited Q&A is below.

Tell me about the panel you’ll be speaking on and what you hope attendees will take away from the discussion? 

I’m looking forward to participating in the panel, “Addressing Systemic Challenges Across Childhood Cancer,” which will explore innovative models to overcome market failures in developing tailored, less toxic treatments for children.  

I hope attendees leave with two takeaways: 

1. There is a critical unmet need and a societal responsibility to accelerate childhood cancer drug discovery and development. 

2. Despite the challenges, this field offers huge opportunities, especially through novel public-private-philanthropic partnerships that can drive innovation and serve as models for other areas of science. 

What drew you to the field of childhood cancer research and development, and what keeps you motivated? 

Despite years in adult drug discovery, I was unaware of how outdated and limited paediatric cancer treatments were until a project in my team sparked connections with experts like Peter Adamson, MD and Gilles Vassal, MD, PhD. I learnt that for many paediatric cancers, no new treatments have emerged in decades, and children often face harsh chemo-radiation with lasting side effects. What keeps me going is the belief that this is more than a job – it is a duty to future generations. We must work together to ensure children are not left behind in cancer innovation. 

What innovative approaches or technologies do you believe hold the most promise for advancing childhood cancer treatment? 

We need tailored combinations, targeting both the tumour, based on molecular profiles, and its environment. Immune therapies like CAR-T cells and bispecifics are promising, though not without limitations. Novel platforms, like next generation CAR-Ts and immune cell engagers for example, could help scale impact. 

For many childhood tumours driven by fusion proteins, innovation will depend on indirect targeting strategies and RNA-based approaches, as these oncogenes, although well described, remain difficult to drug directly. Also, for central nervous system (CNS) tumours, where medical need is especially high, novel technologies that improve delivery across the blood-brain barrier could be truly transformative. 

To fully unlock the potential of innovation, it will be important for public authorities to commit to long-term support – mirroring rare disease plans, through the creation of structured care and research networks, centres of excellence and dedicated public funding streams. 

What do you see as some of the most pressing challenges facing childhood cancer research and development? 

The biggest hurdles are the lack of awareness about the high unmet need and insufficient investment due to small, heterogeneous patient populations. We need new collaborative models that share risk and align stakeholders across sectors.