CCDR - OICR Innovations in Cancer Therapeutics Fund: Call for Letters of Intent
Focus: NOVEL THERAPEUTICS IN ONCOLOGY
The Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR) and the Collaborative Center for Drug Research (CCDR) are seeking
mutually beneficial collaborative opportunities for novel oncology projects suitable for small molecule drug discovery efforts
through this Call for Letters of Intent (LOI).
OICR’s Drug Discovery Program’s mission: To translate cancer-related discoveries into novel oncology therapies.
CCDR’s mission: To promote interdisciplinary and inter-institutional collaborative research among drug and natural product
research scientists with the aim of accelerating the pace of discovery and development of novel therapeutics.
Priority areas for this request include:
 Novel approaches for anti-cancer therapeutic intervention
o Novel oncology targets and/or small molecule hits with potential oncology application
o Priority given to projects that have specific and testable hypotheses
As part of the collaboration the following resources are available:
 $50,000 – $150,000/year to support research in PI’s lab commensurate to stage of the project
 In-kind contributions from the OICR Drug Discovery program based on needs of the project
 Access to high-throughput screening capabilities
o Diverse and focused screening libraries
 Synthetic, medicinal, analytical and computational chemistry expertise
o Lead identification, hit to lead, lead optimization and candidate selection
o Analytical method development
o Virtual screens, computational modeling and molecular design
 in vitro/in vivo ADME and pharmacology specialists
o Lead profiling to drive lead optimization and enable candidate selection
o Pharmacokinetic and in vivo proof of concept (PoC) studies
 Biochemistry and cell biology expertise
o Assay development and optimization, target validation studies
 Fully equipped, world class laboratories
Application Procedure:
Academic investigators are invited to submit a short (not more than two pages) non-confidential research summary and
proposal for initial review. Prioritized proposals will be followed up with a CDA, a request for further information and possibly a
face-to-face meeting. (Please complete the Letter of Intent submission template on pages 2-3 of this document)
LOI applicants will be required to obtain institutional endorsement of their research application from the University of Toronto
through the “My Research Applications” (MRA) UT website.
Review Process:
Novel approaches with strong scientific support and/or rationale will be prioritized. LOIs will be reviewed by OICR subject
matter experts. Final proposal selection will be guided by Scientific Advisory Board members from OICR’s Drug Discovery
Program.
LOIs will be scored on the following basis:
 Novelty of project
 Collaborative nature of the proposal
 Potential for impact on patient outcomes
Centre for Collaborative Drug Research – OICR Innovations in Cancer Therapeutics Fund - LOI v2014
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Intellectual Property
Each party retains all rights, title and interest in intellectual property that it created prior to the funded research, or independent
of the funded research at any time. Ownership of intellectual property created as a result of the funded research will be
determined by inventorship, and inventorship will be determined according to applicable law. Each party’s inventors will assign
to their institution their rights in such intellectual property in accordance with the applicable policies of their institution.
Intellectual property created solely by one party will be the sole property of that party. Intellectual property created jointly by
two or more parties will be owned jointly by those parties and will be governed by an Inter-Institutional Agreement to be
agreed upon at the time by the parties acting in good faith.
Business Model
The collaboration will be governed by a joint agreement that is mutually beneficial to all parties.
OICR is an innovative, translational research institute dedicated to research on the prevention, early detection, diagnosis and
treatment of cancer.
CCDR is is an Extra-Departmental Unit (EDU) of the University of Toronto. A multidisciplinary initiative bringing together the
Faculty of Medicine, the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, the CCDR is poised
to spur innovation in drug research.
Centre for Collaborative Drug Research – OICR Innovations in Cancer Therapeutics Fund - LOI v2014
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CCDR - OICR Innovations in Cancer Therapeutics Fund: Call for Letters of Intent
(2 page maximum)
Call for Proposals Focus: NOVEL THERAPEUTICS IN ONCOLOGY
Submit LOI by email to: ccdr@utoronto.ca
Due: December 17th, 2014 at 5:00 pm
Title:
Applicants/Institutions/Email:
I. Principal Investigator(s):
II. Co-investigator(s):
Funds requested:
Duration of funding requested (recommend 6 months – 2 years depending on scope):
I. Novel nature of project
Please describe the novel insight, target, compound, biomarker, animal model, screen, assay, or technology
that is relevant to this call for proposals. Include key preliminary data supporting the validity of your concept
(may include clinical or preclinical work performed by your team or other researchers).
Clearly outline your project’s novelty and potential for translation, impact, achievability and commercialization.
[1000 character limit]
II. Research and Collaboration Plan
Please provide a brief outline of your research plan including an analysis of its strengths as well as the gaps
and requirements for progressing your concept/idea forward. Clearly articulate how this collaboration could
inject novel thinking and science into your project and help advance it to the next milestone.
[2000 character limit]
Centre for Collaborative Drug Research – OICR Innovations in Cancer Therapeutics Fund - LOI v2014
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V. Impact, Deliverables and Milestones (eg. patient outcomes, patent, scientific paper(s), program/tool, other grants and
timelines)
Please outline concrete examples on how the results of your project will improve patient outcomes and
healthcare.
Please provide detail of clear deliverables and outcomes from the proposed project. Include milestones and
timelines for achieving deliverables.
[500 character limit]
University/Institutional Approval:
____________________________
Name:
Title:
Date:
Centre for Collaborative Drug Research – OICR Innovations in Cancer Therapeutics Fund - LOI v2014
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