School of Pharmacy
KU and its School of Pharmacy consistently is ranked second of US universities receiving research funding from the National Institutes of Health. The KU Lawrence campus works closely with KU Medical Center in Kansas City to create an integrated system designed to take a drug from discovery and development all the way through formulation, delivery, and clinical trials.
In 2009, The Institute for Advancing Medical Innovation (IAMI) was created to accelerate the commercialization of new drugs and medical devices. The Institute was created with a gift of $8.1 million from the Kauffman Foundation with a match of $8 million from KU Endowment.
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KU’s Cancer Center seeks to achieve National Cancer Institutes (NCI) Comprehensive Cancer Center designation within the next decade. NCI designation as a Comprehensive Cancer Center signifies that an academic cancer center has achieved the highest standards. At KU Lawrence campus, there are several research centers that perform basic and applied research supporting pharmaceutical development.
The following are examples of labs that have a history of performing collaborative research with companies:
- High Throughput Screening Lab
- Laboratory for Macromolecular and Vaccine Stabilization
- Higuchi Biosciences Center is focused on creating innovation in drug development and has access to several specialized labs and centers, such as Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Laboratory, Mass Spectrometry Laboratory, and various imaging center.
- Therapeutic Particles and Biomaterials Technology
Company Examples
CritiTech
CritiTech is a prime example of how technology developed through KU research leads to the formation of a spin-off company with the potential to significantly benefit the economy of Kansas and the health of society. The company, started in 1997, conducts research and development into the production of drugs using a patented process developed by Bala Subramaniam, the Dan F. Servey distinguished professor of chemical and petroleum engineering and director of the KU Center for Environmentally Beneficial Catalysis. The process allows CritiTech to make very small particles, called nanoparticles, of existing drugs to enhance their delivery and effectiveness in humans and improve drug manufacturing and development.
Cydex
CyDex, Inc, was created as a spin-off company in 1993 from the Higuchi Biosciences Center at the University of Kansas. Founded primarily to develop and market Captisol®, CyDex, Inc. models how a company can take technology developed in a university setting and put it out in the commercial arena. Captisol® is a derivative of one of the naturally occurring cyclodextrins, which are themselves byproducts of bacterial fermentation of sugars and starch. Cyclodextrins are made up of sugar molecules which form a doughnut-shaped carbohydrate molecule with a hydrophilic or water-loving outer surface, which makes them water-soluble, and a lipophilic internal cavity. It is in this lipophilic internal cavity that allows cyclodextrins to join with certain water soluble drug compounds to produce a drug/cyclodextrin complex that is more easily formulated and administered to patients. In 1993, Peter Higuchi, son of late HBC founder Takeru Higuchi, presented a proposal to the University of Kansas and HBC for commercializing Captisol®, and CyDex, Inc. was born.
