Inaugural Partnership Agreements Signed
The first two partnership agreements have been signed under the National Cancer
Institute’s (NCI’s) new Advanced Technology Partnerships Initiative (ATPI), which
seeks to accelerate the delivery of new products to cancer patients.
The first is a two-year agreement between NCI and GE Global Research, in which NCI’s
Nanotechnology Characterization Laboratory (NCL)— operated by SAIC-Frederick —will
apply its leading-edge suite of nanotechnology characterization tools to evaluate
GE’s proprietary nanoparticle diagnostic imaging agents
NCL is a collaboration of NCI, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and
the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and is part of the NCI
Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer.
NCL has developed a series of protocols that produce a detailed characterization
profile for many kinds of nanoparticles with potential medical applications. These
characterization profiles ensure that biomedical researchers have precise information
about the particles—such as size, morphology, purity, chemical composition, and
stability. These protocols also include toxicology tests that were recently adopted
as standards by ASTM International (formerly known as the American Society of Testing
and Materials, or ASTM).
The second agreement under the initiative is between SAIC-Frederick and Silicon
Kinetics of San Diego, CA. Through this partnership, the companies will explore
advanced protein interaction applications in cancer and AIDS research using Silicon
Kinetics’ biomolecular interaction analysis platform.
The studies will provide insights into the protein interactions that occur in disease
processes and how these interactions are affected by therapeutic drugs.
A number of recent studies have highlighted the need for more collaborative research
and development, and for a greater emphasis on translating the results of basic
research into therapeutic and diagnostic products for patients. Basic research has
made rapid progress in recent years, leading to a growing number of promising new
discoveries. Too few of these discoveries, however, are making their way to patients
in the form of new diagnostic tests and therapies. The ATPI addresses this issue.