Philanthropist and businessman Arthur Brody has pledged $1 million to Sanford-Burnham to help move basic research findings out of the laboratory and into the clinic. The gift creates the Art Brody Innovation Fund, which will support promising research that might otherwise be stalled due to lack of funding. Most early stage biomedical research is funded by the National Institutes of Health, while clinical trials are usually funded by pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Unfortunately, this leaves a large gap in which funding is scarce, the so-called “valley of death” for new treatments. Sanford-Burnham has made numerous investments to help fill this gap, such as creating the Conrad Prebys Center for Chemical Genomics.

The Art Brody Innovation Fund will support efforts to refine early drug candidates, bring in corporate investors and advance new medicines into clinical trials. The fund will also provide seed capital for companies that have been spun-out from the Institute and seek to commercialize Sanford-Burnham discoveries.

“Bridging the gap between the laboratory and the market is critical; it is the payoff for everything that we do,” said Sanford-Burnham CEO Dr. John Reed. “We are extremely grateful for Art’s support, as gifts like this allow our research to realize its potential. Technology that starts here will one day save lives.”