Cornell, GSK Fund Drug Discovery

In an effort to bridge the funding gap between early-stage drug discovery and clinical development, Weill Cornell Medical College has launched the Daedalus Fund for Innovation. An advisory committee that includes industry, venture capital, and Weill Cornell representatives will select projects proposed by medical college faculty; funding will be milestone driven. In a separate move, GlaxoSmithKline has put out a call for proposals for its 2014 Discovery Fast Track Challenge, a program that teams GSK scientists with academic researchers who have a hypothesis on a biological pathway or target. This year’s program expands beyond the U.S. and Canada to include Europe.