UW-Madison sets target to Warf Therapeutics

University of Wisconsin-Madison’s independent commercialisation arm, Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (Warf), has formed a new pre-clinical drug discovery unit called Warf Therapeutics to help commercialise biomedical targets such as proteins and genes.
Warf Therapeutics’ remit covers the de-risking of specific disease targets so they are validated in terms of accuracy and reliability, in recognition of an increasingly complex patenting and approval process for medications.
Each project will undergo evaluations throughout the discovery and development process to determine its potential.
With each approved therapeutic drug costing $1.5bn to $2.5bn to develop, a new approach is needed given that government research grants rarely cover development beyond the initial discovery, according to Jon Young, chief executive of Warf Therapeutics.
Academia’s strength in making fundamental biological discoveries is difficult to commercialise, as pharmaceutical developers are often hesitant to agree licences until a patentable molecule has been found.
Currently, an estimated one out of every 100 university-discovered drug targets becomes a medical product approved by US regulator Food and Drug Administration.
Young argued the sector’s mentality needed to switch from prioritising the publication of findings to seeking patentable property first.
He said: “We are trying to build and foster a drug discovery culture on campus, to bring in more people to do science that translates from the bench to the bedside, and get people excited about carrying their discoveries toward the clinic, toward the patient.”