Commercial Drug Discovery Program

To help identify the most promising target candidates to bring into a drug discovery partnership, an Internal Target Validation Committee comprised of Baylor faculty has been established. 

ITVC Functions

• Provide guidance and scientifically assess potential Baylor targets 
• Direct promising targets to the appropriate collaboration
• Identify internal expertise and resources, which could aide in the development of the discovery and characterization of small molecules to potential targets 

ITVC Leads

Chair: Salma Kaochar, Ph.D. MFA, Assistant Professor, Medicine – Hematology & Oncology and Oncology Section, Molecular & Cellular Biology, Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center 

Scientific Business Officer for Blue Square Discoveries: Damian Young, Ph.D., Associate Director, Center for Drug Discovery, Assistant Professor, Pharmacology & Chemical Biology, Assistant Professor, Pathology & Immunology

Committee Members:

• Malcolm Brenner, M.D., Ph.D., Professor, Center for Cell & Gene Therapy, Molecular & Human Genetics, Pediatrics, Medicine, Translational Biology & Molecular Medicine 
• David Nelson, Ph.D., Professor, Molecular & Human Genetics 
• Trey Westbrook, Ph.D., Professor, Molecular & Human Genetics, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Director, THINC

Submission of your target is a multi-step certification process involving disclosure of the target, an understanding of the process defined by the College, and all target submission criteria with supporting documentation. Submissions will only be accepted from Baylor faculty. 

Prior to submission, make sure to: 

• Submit a disclosure to BCM Ventures via the IP Management System (for Baylor faculty-only)
• Have a listing of any funding sources (Federal or State funding (e.g. NIH, CPRIT), non-profit foundation funding, etc.) 
• Have a listing of any connections with industry, such as a VC relationship, Sponsored Research Agreement (SRA), Research Collaboration Agreement (RCA), consulting agreement, Board seat, etc. 

Submit your target (Baylor faculty-only) 

View Guidelines for Commercialization Submissions to Internal Target Validation Committee (Baylor-faculty only)

The following details will be required to submit a target for commercial evaluation: 

• Target/Gene Name
• Gene Symbol
• UniProt  ID
• Summary
• Disease Area 
• Have you or others identified a genetic link associating the target with a disease state? (e.g. GWAS/Mendelian, loss of function or gain of function mutation, change in mRNA levels, epigenetic changes, etc.)
• Is the target druggable? (supporting protein structure studies (e.g. crystallography), existing small molecule inhibitors, etc.) 
• Have you developed functional assays? (functional cellular assays, knock-out/knock-in mouse models, etc.)
• Supporting Attachments
• Developers & Department or Institution (both BCM and non-BCM developers who have contributed to the development of this target) 
• Funding Sources (Federal or State funding (e.g. NIH, CPRIT), non-profit Foundation funding, etc.) 
• Special Affiliations (HHMI, VA, etc.) 
• Public Disclosure