Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, MD, opened an investigation Sept. 28 into how Cleveland Clinic and a Bon Secours hospital is involved in the 340B drug pricing program.

340B is a federal drug pricing program that has seen scrutiny from drugmakers and support from participating hospitals. The program allows eligible hospitals and healthcare facilities that serve uninsured, low-income and rural patients to buy drugs at discounted prices.

For nearly two decades, Cleveland Clinic researchers have been trying to create a vaccine to prevent the most aggressive and lethal type of breast cancer: Triple negative.

The research will continue despite the loss of the man who started it all.

Researchers at the Cleveland Clinic are set to launch the Phase I trial for what could be the first-ever vaccine to prevent triple-negative breast cancer.

The decision to move forward with the trial comes on the heels of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's approval of its Investigational New Drug (IND) application, allowing Cleveland Clinic and its partner, Anixa Biosciences, to proceed. The study will evaluate the maximum dose that can be tolerated for the vaccine in patients who are diagnosed with early-stage triple-negative breast cancer and optimize the body's immune response.

Researchers from Cleveland Clinic's Global Center for Pathogen Research & Human Health, who have developed the nanotechnology based vaccine, say it has shown strong efficacy in preclinical disease models.

Cleveland Clinic, in collaboration with Brooks Automation, is launching a biorepository in Fairfax, Cleveland. The 21,000 square foot facility will house human tissue samples related to research into a range of conditions, including cancer, heart disease and epilepsy.