TUCSON, Ariz., September 4, 2025 —Critical Path Institute® (C-Path) announced today that its Translational Therapeutics Accelerator (TRxA) program has completed a record year of funding and mentorship, making seven BRIDGe awards to academic drug-development teams. TRxA launched in 2022 and awarded its first grants in 2023. In 2025 the program supported seven projects, its largest annual cohort.
The 2025 portfolio spans high-need diseases and multiple modalities. Awards include:
• $473,000 to Stan van de Graaf, M.D., Ph.D. (Amsterdam UMC) and Matthias Versele, Ph.D. (KU Leuven’s CD3) for a potential treatment for a rare liver disease (primary sclerosing cholangitis), based on a novel drug candidate (an NTCP-targeting small molecule)
• $339,394 to Thomas Dick, Ph.D., and Veronique Dartois, Ph.D. (Hackensack Meridian Health’s Center for Discovery and Innovation) with Courtney Aldrich, Ph.D. (University of Minnesota) to advance novel treatments (rifamycin analogs) for a specially challenging type of drug-resistant lung infections (Mycobacterium abscessus lung disease)
• $150,000 to Gregory Thatcher, Ph.D. (University of Arizona) collaborating with Xuejun June Li, Ph.D. (University of Illinois Chicago) for a novel drug treatment approach in hereditary spastic paraplegia
• $200,000 to Carlos Subauste, M.D. (University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center) for potential treatments against underlying mechanisms related to inflammatory bowel disease (through selective targeting of the CD40-TRAF2 pathway)
• $250,000 to Kyle Apley, Ph.D., Cory Berkland, Ph.D., and Peggy Kendall, M.D. (Washington University in St. Louis) for a new drug candidate in type 1 diabetes (targeting the CD22-mechanism)
• $250,000 in collaboration with the Sontag Innovation Fund to Jim Olson, M.D., Ph.D., and Andrew Mhyre, Ph.D. (Seattle Children’s Research Institute) for a potential new treatment option for pediatric brain tumors (through a PD-L1-CD3 T-cell engager)
• $815,000 to Brian Dymock, Ph.D. (UniQuest’s QEDDI, Brisbane) to advance a novel drug candidate for treatment-resistant prostate cancer (QED-203)
Total 2025 awards are approximately $2.48 million.
“TRxA was built to back strong science and the people behind it,” said Maaike Everts, Ph.D., Executive Director of TRxA. “This year’s seven awards show the breadth of areas where targeted translational planning matters. We combine funding with hands-on guidance in preclinical activities such as chemistry, toxicology and manufacturing, and regulatory education so teams reach key decision points with a clear path forward.”
“From day one we designed TRxA to shorten the distance between academic discovery and a development-ready program that can positively impact novel drug development,” said C-Path CEO Klaus Romero, M.D., M.S., FCP. “The 2025 cohort demonstrates that model at work across continents and disease areas, with disciplined plans that can de-risk early work and increase the odds promising candidates reach the people who need them.”
Awardees credit TRxA’s funding and expert guidance with advancing projects toward key milestones.
“TRxA’s model is proof that disciplined translational planning in academia can move promising science to points where industry can act,” said Shaun Kirkpatrick, President, Research Corporation Technologies. “Our Fredrick Gardner Cottrell Foundation is proud to be TRxA’s founding partner and continue to support its innovative programs that help nonprofit research organizations expand their programming and research funding to further advance early-stage therapies to patients in need.”
TRxA provides non-dilutive funding and hands-on support. Teams retain intellectual property ownership and leave with a concrete next-step plan. Interest from universities, hospitals, and research institutes produced these record seven awards in 2025.
To expand its impact, TRxA is introducing co-branded Request for Proposals (RFP) with nonprofit research organizations, slated to open in January 2026. Through a limited number of partnerships, nonprofits can apply their research funding within TRxA’s framework, with access to its infrastructure, expert collaborators and consultants, and project management. Interested organizations should contact TRxA’s Executive Director Maaike Everts now at trxa@c-path.org.
For additional information on C-Path, TRxA and its initiatives, visit c-path.org/trxa.
About Critical Path Institute
Founded in 2005, as a public-private partnership in response to the FDA’s Critical Path Initiative, Critical Path Institute® (C-Path) celebrates its 20th anniversary as a vital, independent, nonprofit. C-Path’s mission is to lead collaborations that advance better treatments for people worldwide. Globally recognized as a pioneer in accelerating drug development, C-Path has established numerous international consortia, programs and initiatives that currently include more than 1,600 scientists and representatives from government and regulatory agencies, academia, patient organizations, disease foundations and pharmaceutical and biotech companies. With dedicated team members located throughout the world, C-Path’s global headquarters is located in Tucson, Arizona and C-Path’s Europe subsidiary is headquartered in Amsterdam, Netherlands. For more information, visit c-path.org.
About TRxA
Critical Path Institute’s Translational Therapeutics Accelerator (TRxA) is a global drug accelerator focused on supporting academic scientists in advancing novel therapeutics from university-based labs to drug development pipelines of pharmaceutical companies and, ultimately, the clinic. As a nonprofit neutral convener of patient groups, academia, pharmaceutical companies and regulatory agencies, C-Path brings a breadth of scientific and drug development planning not available in other accelerator programs. TRxA is uniquely situated to leverage the expertise available through C-Path’s >20 disease-based consortia, as well as regulatory expertise and project management, to empower academic investigators to succeed in bringing safe and effective treatments to patients. For more information, visit c-path.org/trxa or email trxa@c-path.org.
About the Frederick Gardner Cottrell Foundation
Research Corporation Technologies, Inc. (RCT) established the Frederick Gardner Cottrell Foundation in 1998 to provide financial support for scientific research and educational programs at qualified nonprofit organizations. RCT named the foundation in honor of the university professor and inventor who championed the transfer of academic innovation to public use. The Cottrell Foundation receives its support from donations made by RCT and is a private, non-operating entity.