CPRIT approves nine product development awards after negotiated reductions; committee clears $9M competitive cost‑adjustment RFA

The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas oversight committee approved nine product-development research awards recommended by the Program Integration Committee and accepted staff’s post-review negotiations that reduced the total requested budget. Committee members voted to delegate contract negotiation authority to the CEO and to permit advanced disbursement of grant tranches consistent with the General Appropriations Act. The committee also approved a proposed competitive cost-adjustment RFA intended to re-invest roughly $9 million of remaining product-development program funds into existing, high-performing CPRIT grantees.

Why it matters: These product-development awards fund clinical studies, manufacturing scale-up and platform development intended to move laboratory innovations toward clinical testing and patient access. Several awardees are relocating headquarters or operations to Texas — a stated CPRIT objective intended to strengthen the state’s biotech ecosystem.

What the committee approved - Nine product development award recommendations were approved after due diligence and negotiated budget adjustments. Staff reported the full-review recommendations initially totaled about $68.8 million; negotiated downward adjustments reduced the funded total to roughly $63.5 million. - The nine companies and projects included: Curve…