High Risk/High Yield Research: TI-3D
The Texas Institute for Drug and Diagnostic Development, or TI-3D, was established
with a view to creating an organization and an infrastructure that would facilitate
translational medical research between UT-Austin, medical schools, and commercial
entities around the State of Texas. The Institute was the brainchild of a group of re-
search investigators who were tired of seeing the fruits of their often very successful
labors ripen into intellectual property in the form of patents and then wither on the
vine. A patent that is never validated through testing and eventual commercialization
is nothing more than proof of a successfully funded endeavor, written up and then filed
away. For much of pharmaceutical and biochemical research, the result of years of ef-
fort and hard-won funding might be a novel diagnostic assay or a new and better way
to synthesize a drug compound, maybe a better drug or a better method for screening
potential candidates for testing. According to one source, The University of Texas pro-
duces more intellectual property in the form of biotechnology patents than any other
institution in the world, but we don’t even make the top 25 in technology transfer
and commercialization. With innovative therapeutic and diagnostics, in vitro testing
must be followed up in model mammalian systems, and if successful, taken to trial in
animal and human subjects. This process requires many years of work and funding
Visit TI-3D on the Web:
and an infrastructure of coordinated facilities and highly skilled researchers collaborat-
http://www.ti3d.utexas.edu/
ing together with pharmaceutical and diagnostics entities outside the research setting.
Continued on Page 29
Jonathan Sessler: Fighting Cancer in the First Person
Professor Jonathan Sessler has a deeply personal reason for developing cancer drugs. As
a senior at The University of California at Berkeley, while juggling classes, chemistry
labs, and graduate school applications, a new and extremely substantial stressor was
added to his life when he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Sessler suddenly
found himself undergoing an aggressive course of radiation treatment and losing his
spleen in the first stages in his battle with cancer. Thankfully, his cancer went into
remission. Despite the overwhelming stress of finishing his degree and fighting cancer,
he graduated with honors in chemistry and went on to Stanford University where he
eventually completed his doctorate. While there, he was once again faced with his
cancer when he received news of its return, and once again he beat it down with the
help of his doctors. One of his treating physicians at Stanford, Dr. Richard Miller,
encouraged him to use his personal experience as a motivator and work to develop new
cancer drugs. “You’re a chemist.” said Miller. “Find new cancer drugs.”
Over 25 years later, Sessler has developed a new molecule called texaphyrin, which
continues to be tested as an anti-cancer agent. Texaphyrin is an expanded porphyrin.
It is thus an analogue of Porphyrin, a pigment found in blood, and also a molecule that
tends to gather in cancer cells. Texaphyrin is large enough to carry metals with it, such
as gadolinium, iron, zinc, and copper. Sessler has developed the texaphyrin-based drug
called motexafin gadolinium (MGd), which is currently in clinical trials. Gadolinium
is commonly used in magnetic resonance
imaging (MRI), and Sessler hopes that
One of his treating physicians at Stanford, Dr. Richard Miller, encouraged
MGd will succeed in treating cancer and
him to use his personal experience as a motivator and work to develop new
enhancing the precision of MRIs. Further,
cancer drugs. “You’re a chemist.” said Miller. “Find new cancer drugs.”
by replacing gadolinium with zinc,
copper, or iron, Sessler hopes to be able to use texaphyrin to disrupt the metabolisms
of cancer cells by upsetting the precise balance of metals they need to stay healthy
Continued on Page 21 13
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