Drug Development

The University of Kansas has a wealth of expertise in drug development and delivery and excels in the development of conventional and novel drug delivery products. KU has a proven track record including taking five drugs to commercialization and spinning off a number of biotech companies: Crititech, Deciphera Pharmaceuticals, CyDex, Inc., and ProQuest. Leveraging the abundance of contract drug development capabilities and expertise that exists in the Heartland region, the Office of Therapeutics, Discovery and Development is using these capabilities to advance drug projects through to clinical trials.

The OTDD utilizes preclinical and pharmaceutical science resources within the Biotechnology Innovation and Optimization Center (BIOC), a Kansas Technology Enterprise Corporation (KTEC) Center of Excellence at KU and a KUCC Shared Resource.  The BIOC develops novel and conventional drug delivery products for small molecules. Directed by Roger Rajewski, the center provides drug delivery support to KU projects.

Valentino Stella, PhD, distinguished university professor at KU holds a formulation contract with the National Cancer Institute (NCI) for the development of dosage forms and delivery systems for new drugs. His proven track record in improving drug stability and solubility as they relate to anti-cancer agents is an invaluable tool to the drug development program.