Biotechnology Center Promotes Drug Discovery Effort With $100,000 Planning Grant
Posted: 03-18-2009 : RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C.

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. – Planning for a virtual Center of Innovation that aims to get products from research labs to market more quickly is getting started with a $100,000 award from the North Carolina Biotechnology Center.

The Drug Discovery Center of Innovation, a multi-institution public-private partnership coordinated by The Hamner Institutes for Health Sciences, will initially focus on oncology to maximize its impact. This aligns with the N.C. General Assembly’s commitment to cancer research through its $50 million annual contribution to the University Cancer Research Fund.

“This Center of Innovation will accelerate the development of new, safer drugs as we link cutting-edge research in North Carolina academic institutions with the needs of biotech and pharmaceutical companies,” said Rick Williams, chief business officer of The Hamner and a member of the planning team.

“One of our goals is to create a strategic network of drug development resources throughout the state that we can draw upon to advance promising new discoveries.”

The effort already has a long list of participants across the state. In addition to The Hamner, charter members of the partnership are the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, Center for Integrative Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery, Center for Nanotechnology in Drug Delivery), North Carolina Central University, North Carolina State University, East Carolina University, Campbell University, Duke University’s Comprehensive Cancer Center and Wake Forest University.

“The creation of a Center of Innovation focused on drug discovery comes at a propitious moment for both academic research and the pharmaceutical industry,” said Stephen Frye, director of UNC’s Center for Integrative Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery.

“Academics are actively seeking mechanisms for translation of their discoveries toward the clinic, while the industry is struggling to continue supporting their own internal discovery efforts – providing an environment that is ripe for new models to advance the application of scientific knowledge to the treatment of disease. The COI is one such model.”

The Biotechnology Center created the Centers of Innovation program to accelerate commercialization in the life sciences and create new businesses and jobs across the state.

The COI program targets industry sectors within North Carolina whose development could yield significant economic benefits for the state. COIs are designed to create an innovative commercialization pipeline built upon existing university research expertise, infrastructure and technology transfer to stimulate, encourage and assist new private sector partnerships, new company formation and new jobs.

This award is the fifth COI in the program. Other sectors of attention are nanobiotechnology, marine biotechnology, advanced medical technologies, and natural biotechnology and integrative medicine.

“The COI planning brings together partners from varying disciplines and perspectives – academic, industry, economic development, business, government, for-profit, non-profit,” said Mary Beth Thomas, Ph.D., senior director of Centers of Innovation operations for the Biotechnology Center.

“These consortia recognize North Carolina’s strengths and the opportunities that are offered by creating COIs for targeted industry sectors. The creation of a COI can facilitate sector development by building upon regional industrial/commercial strengths while drawing upon research expertise and capabilities at universities across the state.

“We see this sector-based approach as the key to creating high-paying jobs statewide.”

The grant process has two steps. A Phase I planning grant is used to create a business model for an independent center. Once the business plan is approved by the Biotechnology Center, the COI is eligible for a $2.5 million award over four years. The independent COI can then launch the commercialization process leading to a financially self-sufficient center that serves the specific industry sector of interest.

The Biotechnology Center is a private, non-profit corporation supported by the North Carolina General Assembly. Its mission is to provide long-term economic and societal benefits to North Carolina by supporting biotechnology research, business, education and strategic policy statewide.

Contact: Chris Brodie, vice president of corporate communications, North Carolina Biotechnology Center, chris_brodie@ncbiotech.org or 919-541-9366. Visit the Biotechnology Center's Web site at www.ncbiotech.org