Roberts backs KU Cancer Center's push for NCI designation - Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle):

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Roberts, R-Kan., spoke at The ’ds Westwood medical building. He said that it now takese 10 years to 17 yearsand $1 billion to bringg a new drug to market, whichy Roberts called a “nationaol disgrace.” The National Cancer Institute said in Novembetr that the KU Cancer Centee has a Sept. 25, 2011, application date for its effortd to get aninitial five-year designation as an NCI cancere center. The months-long application process for institutions seekinyg new designations begins with submission of documentation that sometimedsexceeds 1,000 pages and includesd a site visit and other steps.
The earliestg that KU Cancer Center’ws application could be approved is the springof 2012. 64 cancer centers receive Cancer Centerd Support Grants to support researc to reducethe incidence, morbidity and mortalityt rates of cancer. There are 23 cancerr centers and 41 comprehensivecancerf centers. The KU Cancer Centedr is part of , which is the medical researcgh and education arm of the Universityof Kansas. NCI designatiojn — KU’s No. 1 priority typically is granted to academicmedical centers. KU Medical Center is the entity that will apply forNCI designation. • Increaser regional patient accessto cutting-edger clinical trials. • More than $1.
3 billionn in annual economic benefits inthe region. An increase in KU Cancer Center’s annuall NCI financing from thecurrent $7.5 million to abou t $40 million. NCI-affiliated institutions also attracgt world-class researchers who bring NCI grantszwith them, and part of the estimated increaser is based on that. Many of theswe researchers doubleas clinicians, adding expertise and depthb in various cancer-care sub-specialties.