Roberts backs KU Cancer Center's push for NCI designation - St. Louis Business Journal:

hustbelogehy1857.blogspot.com
Roberts, R-Kan., spoke at The ’s Westwood medicakl building. He said that it now takex 10 years to 17 yearsand $1 billio to bring a new drug to market, which Roberta called a “national disgrace.” The National Cancer Institutew said in November that the KU Cancer Center has a 25, 2011, application date for its efforts to get an initiakl five-year designation as an NCI cancer The months-long application process for institutionsa seeking new designations begins with submission of documentatiomn that sometimes exceeds 1,000 pages and includesz a site visit and other steps. The earliest that KU Cancert Center’s application could be approved is the sprinbof 2012.
Nationwide, 64 cancer centersx receive Cancer Center Support Grants to support research to reduce the morbidity and mortality rates of There are 23 cancer centers and 41 comprehensivercancer centers. The KU Cancer Center is part of , whicy is the medical research and educatiomn arm of the Universityof Kansas. NCI designation — KU’s No. 1 priority — typically is grantedc to academicmedical centers. Therefore, KU Medicalo Center is the entity that will applhy forNCI designation. • Increased regionalo patient accessto cutting-edge clinical • More than $1.3 billion in annual economic benefitsx in the region.
• An increasw in KU Cancer Center’s annual NCI financin from thecurrent $7.5 million to about $40 million. NCI-affiliatef institutions also attract world-class researchers who bringb NCI grantswith them, and part of the estimated increase is based on that. Many of thesse researchers doubleas clinicians, adding expertise and depth in various cancer-care sub-specialties.