Dr. Jung-Hee Woo, director of Baylor Scott & White's Central Texas cancer research facility, has been awarded a $3.56 million grant from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT). The grant will support Baylor Scott & White Health Research Institute's Investigational New Drug Production Core Facility.
"With this support, we have a great opportunity to expand cancer drug production capabilities and lower a financial barrier to test innovative new drugs in cancer patients," Dr. Woo said, adding that researchers plan to produce at least four new cancer drugs in the next three years.
"To improve cancer therapy, scientific discoveries from cancer research must be translated into practical applications, such as new drug development," Dr. Woo said. "New drugs need to be produced in specialized facilities, with qualified equipment and trained personnel for compliance with FDA regulations. For these reasons, the limiting factor in new drug production is often related to production costs."
The Baylor Scott & White Central Texas cancer research facility was founded in 2005. Its main goal is to provide investigators with new drugs for effectiveness and safety testing in all types of cancer patients. It conducts pre-clinical research and development, process development and scale-up, Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) production, clinical pharmacology and custom projects. It has produced eight Investigational New Drugs (IND), received Food and Drug Administration approval for phase I/II clinical trials for three INDs, and out-licensed two drugs to biotech companies.
To expand production capabilities and efficiently respond to the growing drug production need, the facility plans to convert a vacant $5 million GMP clean space (7,500 square feet) into a GMP 3 suite for drug production in mammalian cells.
"As a result, more cancer drugs can be tested in clinical trials, leading to development of more effective therapies for cancer patients," Dr. Woo said. "I believe our cancer drug development efforts play a major role in cancer research."
The award is one of 14 new grants totaling more than $50 million recently presented by CPRIT to advance the fight against cancer.
"With these new awards, CPRIT continues to build Texas' cancer research capabilities through the recruitment of some of the top minds in cancer research and supports core research facilities that are shared by researchers to advance science to benefit Texans," said Wayne Roberts, CPRIT chief executive officer.
Other recipients in the Core Facility Support Awards category are:
- Baylor College of Medicine – Proteomics and Metabolomics Core Facility (Dean Edwards) – $5 million
- Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center – North Texas Clinical Pharmacology Cancer Core (Richard Leff) – $2.5 million
- The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center -- The University of Texas MD Anderson Science Park Next-Generation Sequencing Facility (Jianjun Shen) – $5 million
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About Baylor Scott & White Health
As the largest not-for-profit health system in the state of Texas, Baylor Scott & White promotes the health and well-being of every individual, family and community it serves. It is committed to making quality care more accessible, convenient and affordable through its integrated delivery network, which includes the Baylor Scott & White Health Plan, Baylor Scott & White Research Institute, the Baylor Scott & White Quality Alliance and its leading digital health platform – MyBSWHealth. Through 51 hospitals and more than 1,200 access points, including flagship academic medical centers in Dallas, Fort Worth and Temple, the system offers the full continuum of care, from primary to award-winning specialty care. Founded as a Christian ministry of healing more than a century ago, Baylor Scott & White today serves more than three million Texans. For more information, visit: BSWHealth.com