Optimal Cancer Care Foundation

What Optimal Cancer Care Foundation does

The Optimal Cancer Care Foundation, operating as the Optimal Cancer Care Alliance (OCCA), is a non-profit healthcare advocacy coalition that campaigns for replacing oncology drug overdosing with evidence-based optimal dosing. Its stated mission is to ensure each cancer patient receives the optimal dosage of the medications needed to effectively treat their cancer, targeting what it characterizes as a systemic reliance on Maximum Tolerated Dose (MTD) in FDA approval standards. OCCA is led by a board that includes University of Chicago pharmacologist Mark J. Ratain (Chairman and Treasurer), former ASCO CEO Allen S. Lichter (Chairman Emeritus), former ASCO Board member Ian F. Tannock (immediate-past Chairman), Georgetown health law scholar David A. Hyman, former HHS Assistant Secretary for Legislation Melanie Anne Egorin, and senior clinical oncologists from the University of Michigan, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University of Toronto, and Sussex Cancer Centre / UCL.

Its core "product" is research and policy output in the discipline OCCA's leadership terms "interventional pharmacoeconomics." The organization has published peer-reviewed dosing-optimization work in journals including the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Blood Advances, Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics, and JAMA Oncology, and maintains a public reference database of cancer drugs it identifies as overdosed with recommended dose levels (e.g., ibrutinib 420mg to 140mg, erlotinib 150mg to 25-100mg, dasatinib 100mg to 50mg, abiraterone 1000mg fasting to 250mg with food). OCCA does not sell products or services; its go-to-market is policy advocacy through formal submissions to the FDA and U.S. Congress, conference convening (notably a March 2026 conference at Georgetown Law co-hosted with the University of Chicago), and earned-media engagement in outlets such as the Washington Post, KFF Health News, Nature, STAT News, and the ASCO Post.

OCCA serves three stakeholder groups in lieu of a paying customer base: cancer patients worldwide who are prescribed overdosed medications, oncology prescribers and health systems that lack evidence-based dose-optimization standards, and regulatory bodies (FDA, Congress) that set dosing requirements. The coalition claims endorsements from more than 80 oncologists and researchers globally and lists board/director or endorser representation in at least 28 countries across North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America. Funding sources, budget size, donor mix, and incorporation jurisdiction are not disclosed in the available data, and the organization is registered as a private non-profit with a .org domain.

Name

Optimal Cancer Care Foundation

Legal name

Optimal Cancer Care Alliance

Website

https://optimalcancercare.org

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Optimal Cancer Care Foundation (OCCA) is a non-profit advocacy coalition that campaigns for evidence-based optimal dosing of oncology drugs, serving cancer patients, prescribers, and U.S. regulators through peer-reviewed research, policy submissions, and global convening.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Oncology Policy Advocacy and Research

NAICS

Scientific Research and Development Services (5417)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731), Services-Health Services (8000)

akta.pro primary industry

Medical Oncology (HLAKAFAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Regulatory Strategy & IND/NDA/BLA Submissions Support (HLAIALAH), Oncology Pathways & Precision Medicine Decision Support (HLACAGAH)

Keywords

• Oncology drug dosing
• Interventional pharmacoeconomics
• Cancer treatment optimization
• Healthcare policy advocacy
• Oncology dosing reform

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Optimal Cancer Care Alliance (OCCA) is a non-profit healthcare coalition that researches and advocates for evidence-based optimal dosing of oncology medications to reduce toxicity, improve clinical outcomes, and lower costs. The organization produces peer-reviewed research, maintains a database of overdosed cancer drugs with recommended dosages, and submits formal policy recommendations to the FDA and US Congress to require dose optimization in oncology drug development and prescribing. Its outputs are advocacy, research, and educational resources rather than commercial products or services.

Product overview

Optimal Cancer Care Alliance (OCCA) is a healthcare advocacy organization focused on optimizing cancer drug dosages rather than a traditional product company. The organization does not offer commercial products or services; instead, it serves as a coalition of medical professionals advocating for evidence-based dosing of oncology medications. OCCA publishes research, provides educational resources about overdosed drugs, and facilitates discussions on interventional pharmacoeconomics through its website and materials including PDF presentations, videos, and a database of overdosed cancer drugs with recommended dosages.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• Ibrutinib dosage reduction from 420mg to 140mg
• +4 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER): An independent U.S. non-profit that evaluates the clinical and economic value of prescription drugs, including oncology drugs. OCCA and ICER share the pharmacoeconomics framing of drug value, and both engage payers and policymakers on drug-cost reform, making them adjacent advocacy voices on related questions.
• American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO): The largest professional oncology society in the U.S. and the publisher of JCO. Multiple OCCA board members (Lichter, Tannock) are former ASCO presidents or board members, and ASCO's clinical practice guidelines and meetings are the primary channels through which OCCA's dosing recommendations would be disseminated or contested.
• European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO): The leading European oncology professional society, with parallel guideline-development and policy-advocacy functions to ASCO. OCCA's international board and global footprint (over 25 countries) overlap materially with ESMO's constituency, and its dosing recommendations would compete with or feed into ESMO guideline revisions.
• National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN): Develops the most widely-used oncology treatment guidelines in the U.S., including the recommended dosing standards that OCCA's reform work directly challenges. Guideline revisions at NCCN are the single most important adoption pathway for OCCA's dose-optimization evidence.
• Friends of Cancer Research: A Washington, D.C.-based cancer policy advocacy organization that engages the FDA, Congress, and industry on regulatory reform. Closely comparable mission and operating model to OCCA, focused on accelerating evidence-based policy changes in oncology.

Regional players

• American Society of Hematology (ASH): The leading U.S. professional society for hematology, with parallel guideline, advocacy, and education functions to ASCO in the hematology sub-specialty. Several of OCCA's drug examples (Ibrutinib, Dasatinib) are hematology/oncology drugs, and ASH is a natural additional dissemination channel for dosing reform in blood cancers.
• Cancer Research UK: The largest cancer research and awareness charity in the U.K., with a research funding and policy advocacy model comparable to U.S. cancer non-profits. OCCA's international footprint (including U.K. directors) makes CRUK a relevant peer for global policy coordination on dosing reform.

Others

• National Cancer Institute (NCI): The U.S. federal government's principal agency for cancer research and training. OCCA Director Allen Lichter previously served at NCI, and NCI-funded cooperative groups (e.g., ECOG-ACRIN, where OCCA Director Jill Feldman serves) are a key channel for the clinical evidence that would validate OCCA's dosing recommendations.

Emerging players

• Personalized Medicine Coalition: A non-profit advocacy and education organization promoting precision-medicine adoption across stakeholders including FDA, Congress, and payers. OCCA's work on dose optimization by patient characteristics is a precision-medicine application, and the two organizations operate in overlapping policy and regulatory spaces.

Broad incumbents

• American Cancer Society (ACS): The largest U.S. cancer-focused non-profit, with a much broader mission spanning research funding, patient support, and policy advocacy. ACS is not a direct dosing-reform peer, but it is the dominant voice in U.S. cancer policy and a potential partner or competing voice for OCCA on legislative issues.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/optimal-cancer-care-foundation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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