Scientists met Wednesday at the Frederick National Institute for Cancer Research to forge an economic partnership that hopefully will lead to the development of biotechnology.
For six years, Frederick National Laboratory and the National Cancer Institute have presented technology showcases. Frederick National Laboratory spokesperson Mary Ellen Hackett said that through the event, scientists are highlighting cancer-related technologies available for licensing and collaboration. Entrepreneurs are invited to assist in further research.
“Our overall responsibility is really to improve public health,” NCI Acting Director Douglas Lowy, Ph.D., told a virtual audience gathered at Frederick National Laboratory Wednesday afternoon. mentioned in the presentation.
The event, which has been held virtually for the last two years, is now offered on a hybrid platform for 2022.
Inventions are strongly encouraged by the NCI and Frederick National Laboratory, but most inventors don’t create the products themselves, Lowy said.
“So we need to attract investment from companies that can help develop the product,” says Lowy.
The Technology Showcase provides an avenue for that partnership.
Panel sessions explored ways to access Frederick National Laboratory resources and discussed government and venture funding. Participants also spoke with Sue Scott, a patient who recovered from cancer after participating in an NCI clinical trial.
NCI Technology Transfer Fellow Sarwat Naz was one of many people pitching cancer research on Wednesday. She wanted to find a stakeholder to help license a drug already on the market to repurpose it for breast cancer treatment.
“This could be a very unexpected discovery,” said Naz.
Pointing to a scientific poster filled with numbers, charts and graphs, she explained how the inventors learned that the laxative drug Acetarax could be used to combat triple-negative breast cancer.
In an extreme simplification, researchers found that tumors harvested from humans disappeared within about 20 days after being transplanted into mice treated with acetalax.
Naz excitedly explained the potential behind the discovery, pointing out that Acetalax has already been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The inventors have applied for a patent for the technology, but additional FDA approval from her is needed to repurpose the drug for cancer treatment, she said. The next step, Naz said, is to find a stakeholder to support licensing and manufacturing so the researchers can begin the second phase of clinical trials.
According to Vladimir Popov, one of the main goals of technology showcases is to familiarize people with available research. Popov is Director of the Partnership Development Office at Frederick National Laboratory. He wants to spread the word about what his 2,400-employee lab dedicated to biomedical research has to offer. They will partner with companies large and small to bring ideas to market and reach patients, he said.
“We are doing basic research,” Popov said. “But we want to pass these things on to companies interested in taking this to the next level. From proof of concept, we basically have to bring it to market.”
Mel Litter, Chief Operating Officer of Frederick Innovative Technology Center Inc., spoke with Popov about fostering collaboration across the organization. This center, known as FITCI, is a business his incubator and accelerator. According to Litter, FITCI has about 72 clients, about 75% of whom are in biotechnology. She expressed her desire to work with technology showcase attendees to support her FITCI clients.
“We want to leverage our expertise here,” said Ritter.
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