New Colorado center to advance discovery of drugs

Colorado State University is launching an innovative center that will help university researchers across the state discover new medications to treat illnesses.

The Colorado Center for Drug Discovery is part of a statewide initiative to foster bioscience commercialization in Colorado. The center, known as C2D2, received $2.25 million from the state's Office of Economic Development and International Trade from funds allocated through the Bioscience Discovery Evaluation Grant Program.

Drug discovery requires a complex and long-term investment in research and development before a new medication can be used by a patient, say center co-directors Joe Guiles and Terry Opgenorth. Center researchers will advance drug research by bridging gaps in the technically challenging process.

C2D2 will arm researchers throughout the state with the resources to develop new drugs to treat unmet medical needs — and create jobs as those discoveries move forward in the development process, notes Opgenorth.

Labs across the state will forge virtual teams and vie for funding incentives to collaborate in pharmacokinetic research and medicinal chemistry — disciplines that test if new drugs effectively and safely reach diseased tissue and advance drug analysis, development, and manufacture, respectively.

The center will house a chemical library, an inventory of compounds to help researchers identify substances that fight diseases, which will help the scientists establish a foundation in the time-consuming process of developing potential medications.

Former pharmaceutical industry scientists will serve as consultants to the emerging drug discovery teams, providing educational opportunities for university faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and students.

Federal Drug Agency approval and ultimate commercialization will require partnerships with existing biopharma companies or the creation of new companies. "In either case, the bioscience economy in Colorado benefits," says Opgenorth. "This center will enable researchers here in Colorado to have a global impact on the health of people everywhere."

Colorado's research universities are a hub of medical discovery and innovation and hold a growing national and international reputation for excellence. C2D2 will help ensure that promising research is developed to its full potential and economic opportunity is created for Colorado and its universities.

In addition to their role with the Colorado Center for Drug Discovery, co-directors Guiles and Opgengorth also provide leadership to CSU's Superclusters and CSU Ventures Inc. Guiles serves as chief operating officer of MicroRx, the business development operation of CSU's Infectious Disease Supercluster, and Opgenorth is chief operating officer of NeoTREX, the business arm of the Cancer Supercluster.