Venture Partners at CU Boulder has announced the first recipients of a new translational funding program designed to advance promising, early-stage therapeutics with strong commercial potential. The program provides up to $50,000 per project to help CU Boulder researchers generate critical validation data or develop new intellectual property, bringing new treatments a step closer to patients in need.
“CU Boulder is a world-class destination for bioscience research,” said Hannah Nelson, associate director of licensing at Venture Partners, “and our innovative faculty have created a robust pipeline of novel drugs and therapeutic targets.”
Many promising therapeutic projects reach a stage where they no longer qualify for basic research funding but are still too early for translational grants or private investment. This funding gap can stall progress.
This funding program is designed to bridge that gap by supporting commercially promising drug development efforts. The awarded projects ultimately aim to develop FDA-approved drugs and have a clear path to commercialization, having validated their development approach through customer discovery interviews.
“This funding supports a critical stage in drug development,” said Justin Stitzlein, venture analyst at Venture Partners. “Our goal is to give these teams the support they need to generate compelling data and position themselves for the next stage of development. We believe this kind of early support can unlock significant long-term impact.”
