Hollings Horizons 2023 Combined for flipbook - Flipbook - Page 21
Scientist as entrepreneur
Translational science
A recent study looked at the new drugs put
forward by the 20 biggest biopharma companies
and approved by the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration between 2015 and 2021 — 65% of
those drugs originated outside of the company. The
companies end up with the final product through
licensing or acquisitions rather than developing
them in-house from start to finish.
One of the biggest strengths of Hollings? Its
relatively small size. With about 130 members, it’s
easier for researchers to get to know their fellow
scientists and what they’re working on — and to
come up with ideas for collaborations.
These academic startups, founded by professors,
keep a drug or biomarker candidate moving
along the pipeline through that early and risky
development stage where most projects fail.
Hollings researcher Nathan Dolloff, Ph.D., founded
his startup, Leukogene Therapeutics, in 2012.
He's not alone — several Hollings members have
their own startups. And Dolloff is in a position
to help others in this endeavor. He’s the director
of entrepreneurship for Hollings, a new position,
charged with nurturing an entrepreneurial spirit
among his fellow researchers with the goal of
creating pathways for Hollings discoveries to reach
patients in the clinic.
The importance of the startup company is that it
organizes key development resources that aren’t
typically found in university medical centers. Access
to private funding is essential, but money isn’t the
only ingredient needed, Dolloff said.
“It's also people and their expertise. It's their
experience and ability to foresee pitfalls. It's
knowing regulatory, clinical, manufacturing, and
finance strategy. As a basic scientist I did not have
those skills, so surrounding myself with the right
people under the umbrella of a startup company
was important,” he said.
To encourage entrepreneurship, Dolloff oversees
a new Hollings grant award, the Entrepreneurial
Sciences in Cancer Award. This grant, funded by
Hollings and the MUSC Office of Innovation, is for
projects that will generate new intellectual property
and have a defined path to commercialization.
Since launching last year, four grants have already
been awarded.
hollingscancercenter.musc.edu
Denis Guttridge, Ph.D., associate director of
translational science, came to Hollings specifically
because of how its size fostered translational
research.
“The way I try to accelerate our
pipeline is basically moving what
we do in the laboratory to our
clinical trials. I work with basic
scientists — Ph.D. scientists who are
in the laboratory — and I work with
physician-scientists, and I attempt
to forge collaborations wherever
possible.”
Denis Guttridge, Ph.D.
Guttridge also oversees Hollings' Transdisciplinary
Cancer Teams. Each of these teams is focused on
a cancer site, like breast, colon or pancreatic, and
includes basic science researchers, doctors who
treat patients, biostatisticians, pharmacologists,
population science researchers and more. The idea
is to quicken the pace at which discoveries in the
lab can make it to patients.
Dolloff said it’s all part of fulfilling the Hollings
mission to create solutions that affect patients’ lives
in positive ways.
“Entrepreneurship is just one piece of the larger
strategy to execute on that mission,” Dolloff said.
“We want to create and support as many pathways
as possible for our researchers to move their
ideas forward.” ◗
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