Two translational research units with UBC ties — the Vancouver Prostate Centre’s Translational Research Initiative for Accelerated Discovery and Development program (PC-TRiADD) and the Centre for Drug Research and Development (CDRD) — have been awarded additional funding from the Centres of Excellence for Commercialization and Research program.
Benchside researchers at the Vancouver Prostate Centre.
PC-TRiADD, which will be receiving $11.33 million over five years, will use the funds to attract the best researchers/clinicians, support discovery and development of new drugs and biomarker tests, and foster the commercialization of spin-off companies (such as OncoGenex and Aquinox). Although focused on prostate cancer, many of PC-TRiADD’s services and discoveries are applicable to other cancers, such as breast, lung, colon, and bladder, and other industries including forestry and fisheries.
“This new funding from the CECR program will help accelerate research and commercialization programs in BC,” says Martin Gleave, Executive Director of the Vancouver Prostate Centre, CEO of PC-TRiADD, researcher with the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute and a Distinguished Professor in UBC’s Department of Urologic Sciences. “It will help commercialize our best anti-cancer drug candidates and create new economic opportunities for the benefit of Canada.”
The CDRD, which will be receiving $8 million over five years, is Canada’s fully-integrated national drug development and commercialization centre. Founded in 2007 and based on UBC’s Vancouver campus, it provides expertise and infrastructure to enable researchers from leading health research institutions to advance promising early-stage drug candidates. It aims to “de-risk” discoveries stemming from publicly-funded health research and transform them into viable investment opportunities for the private sector.
Pieter Cullis, a Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, was the CDRD’s Founding Scientific Director, and T. Michael Underhill, a Professor in the Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences, is its Interim Scientific Director.
The Centres of Excellence for Commercialization and Research program is managed by the Networks of Centres of Excellence Secretariat, in partnership with Industry Canada and Health Canada. The program’s budget was $31.2 million in 2011-12, and it currently supports 22 active centres based across the country.