Cancer Focus Fund has received commitment for over $50 million in capital. It will invest in small to midsized biopharmaceutical companies developing promising cancer therapeutics and will also provide access to the clinical trials expertise and infrastructure of MD Anderson, according to the Focus Fund and MD Anderson. The goal is to accelerate therapies through investigational new drug (IND) approval and phase I and IB/II studies.

In addition to MD Anderson, limited partners in Cancer Focus Fund include the Baton Rouge Area Foundation, Rice University Endowment, Louisiana State University Health Shreveport Foundation, Ochsner Health, and other private investors. Cancer Focus Fund will be jointly administered by an investment committee and a scientific advisory committee; the scientific committee, comprised of researchers and physicians from MD Anderson, will recommend investment candidates based on scientific merit, while the investment committee will make the final funding decisions based on those recommendations.