Successfully delivering new cancer therapeutics discoveries to patients is a long, difficult, and expensive process. To do this successfully, cancer researchers most often must develop a small company or partner with an established pharmaceutical company. For many Texas cancer researchers, this is a major hurdle. The difficulty Texas researchers experience in successfully moving their cancer discoveries to patients is evidenced by the small number of technology commercialization grants awarded to Texas compared to other states. There is a lack of biotech entrepreneurship training and comprehensive drug development programs in Texas. BDACT will address these deficits and provide Texas researc...

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Successfully delivering new cancer therapeutics discoveries to patients is a long, difficult, and expensive process. To do this successfully, cancer researchers most often must develop a small company or partner with an established pharmaceutical company. For many Texas cancer researchers, this is a major hurdle. The difficulty Texas researchers experience in successfully moving their cancer discoveries to patients is evidenced by the small number of technology commercialization grants awarded to Texas compared to other states. There is a lack of biotech entrepreneurship training and comprehensive drug development programs in Texas. BDACT will address these deficits and provide Texas researchers and startup companies with integrated training, resources, and mentoring to help advance innovative cancer therapy discoveries into clinical trials, ultimately leading to new approaches and therapies to treat and/or cure cancer patients. Using formal instruction, workshops, discussions, and hand-on projects with business and pharmaceutical experts, participants will gain insights into every facet of managing a therapeutic biotechnology company, including market research, FDA regulations, intellectual property, licensing, finance, fundraising, legal, and other critical areas. This information will be incorporated in an integrated strategic plan that each participant constructs to guide their company's business and drug development efforts. This nine-month program will culminate with a VC Pitch Day, a presentation to investors, corporate partners, media, and other guests. Pivotal to BDACT's success is CPRIT funding and significant contributions from multiple part¬ners, including GCC, existing CPRIT core facilities, numerous healthcare professionals, entrepreneurs, business executives across Texas and the country, and Texas academic institutions. These combined commitments will greatly magnify the impact of CPRIT’s investment, producing patient benefits and financial returns.

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