Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Funding bodies should foster partnerships between industry and academia

Nature Reviews Cancer volume 21, pages 65–66 (2021)Cite this article

Subjects

Research funders need to take action to ensure that discoveries progress from the lab to the world. They are uniquely placed to develop and promote collaborations between multiple partners, including industry, in a positive and ethical way.

Oncology discovery research continues to advance at a staggering pace, but to realize the opportunity to impact patients’ lives, we need to ensure the insights made from research advance from bench to business to bedside more rapidly. Cancer Research UK (CRUK) and other funders support a variety of research approaches — including efforts to advance our understanding of disease biology, improve early diagnosis and develop new treatments. We believe the independence of investigators to pursue their research unhindered by commercial considerations is an important principle that funders should uphold, and most of the research projects we fund do not begin with a commercial end point in mind. However, we also recognize that collaboration with industry partners, who have the capability to launch products into the market, is central to translating research advances into real-world impact. Early engagement with these partners develops collaborative networks and helps advance discoveries rapidly when ready to do so.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Get just this article for as long as you need it

$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Wouters, O. J., McKee, M. & Luyten, J. Estimated research and development investment needed to bring a new medicine to market, 2009-2018. JAMA. 323, 844–853 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research & Innovation, Cancer Research UK, London, UK

    George Tzircotis, Tony Hickson & Iain Foulkes

Authors
  1. George Tzircotis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Tony Hickson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Iain Foulkes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to George Tzircotis.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors are employees of Cancer Research UK.

Additional information

Related links

CRUK Centre for Drug Development: https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/funding-for-researchers/our-research-infrastructure/our-centre-for-drug-development

CRUK Entrepreneurial Programme: https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/funding-for-researchers/translate-your-research/entrepreneurial-programmes

CRUK Therapeutic Discovery Laboratories: http://discoverylabs.cancerresearchuk.org/

LifeArc: https://www.lifearc.org/

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Tzircotis, G., Hickson, T. & Foulkes, I. Funding bodies should foster partnerships between industry and academia. Nat Rev Cancer 21, 65–66 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41568-020-00326-w

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41568-020-00326-w

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing