Privacy/Terms of Use

You will be able to choose what elements of your profile and your participation are visible to the public. Learn more about our Privacy Disclosure and Terms of Use here.

Who manages CureAccelerator?

CureAccelerator is founded and managed by Cures Within Reach, a non-profit organization devoted to improving patient quality and length of life through repurposing. Learn more here.

Why should I become a user of CureAccelerator?

Each person who joins and contributes to CureAccelerator helps us drive more treatments to more patients more quickly through repurposing. Your presence will add to the knowledge and energy of the CureAccelerator community. You may be the person who proposes groundbreaking research, brings funding to a project, asks the right question that creates a repurposing idea, connects a patient to a repurposed therapy, gets a physician involved to bring his or her medical knowledge to CureAccelerator, or you may find a totally new way to help move repurposing forward to patients.

Is there a cost to join CureAccelerator?

There is no cost to join and participate in CureAccelerator for most users. Companies or research institutions that would like to set-up a protected area for projects that require confidentiality or other protection may incur some costs. Please contact us to discuss this option.

I am from a non-profit that funds medical research. How can we benefit from this site?

CureAccelerator can help you find more repurposing research that has the potential to make a difference for the patients you care about most. On CureAccelerator, you can expand your reach by connecting with those you don’t yet know: a global network of researchers who are focused on and passionate about repurposing, individual donors who support repurposing and your disease or patient population interests, and other organizations that share your goals. You can also integrate your own project solicitation, review and funding decision processes. Based on your organizational needs and policies, we have different ways we can work together for research sourcing and grant management – please contact us to discuss.

Who can fund this research and how are funds pledged?

Non-profit organizations, individual funders, government and industry groups can support research through CureAccelerator. Funders can pledge funds in the Project Proposal Summary phase, and can choose to support a portion of a project’s budget, or the complete budget. Funders can find other funders on CureAccelerator and decide to work together to fund a project.

What happens after a project is selected for funding?

After a proposed project passes scientific review and receives commitments for funding, an agreement is reached with the research institution or company sponsoring the research. Depending on the funder preferences, either Cures Within Reach or the funder will manage the grant post-award, including payment schedules and regular reporting. Details will be arranged offline between Cures Within Reach, the research institution or company sponsoring the research, and the funders.

Is there a cost for funders to join CureAccelerator?

There is no cost for funders to join and participate in CureAccelerator. In fact, funders often reduce their costs finding and funding research through CureAccelerator, due in part to the CureAccelerator scientific review process that includes budget review, and due in part to CureAccelerator’s established relationships with research institutions that share the desire to keep budgets as low as possible. Please contact us for further information

What kinds of research proposals are accepted on this site?

CureAccelerator supports affordable clinical trials investigating if drugs, devices, diagnostics, and nutriceuticals already approved for human use, can be repurposed to create a diagnostic, treatment, or cure for a new disease indication. CureAccelerator also supports research testing improvements to an existing treatment protocol. In addition to clinical trials, repurposing projects may be last pre-clinical research leading directly to a clinical trial. CureAccelerator funders will consider supporting certain foundational research, such as gene sequencing or biomarker development, when it is critical to moving repurposing clinical trials forward as quickly as possible and with a higher likelihood of success.

Proposals should target a disease, condition or side effect where one or more of the following is true:

• It does not currently have sufficiently effective treatment
• There is an effective treatment that is very expensive
• There is an effective treatment with a significant side effect profile
• There is an effective treatment for only a portion of the patient population

Each CureAccelerator project must have the potential to create significant patient impact in the next 2-4 years, either through off-label use, or through larger clinical trials leading to commercialization and marketing approvals by the FDA or other regulatory agencies.

CureAccelerator projects minimize costs and timelines in order to accomplish the purpose of the project, maximizing return on investment and ensuring that as many repurposing projects as possible can be funded.

Who reviews the posted research and how are those reviews completed?

Scientists and clinicians with repurposing expertise and with relevant disease/therapy expertise review research proposed within CureAccelerator. These advisors include CureAccelerator’s standing Science Advisory Board members, and independent scientists and clinicians with area of expertise in the treatment, disease, or patient population, some of whom are recommended by the Principal Investigator (the researcher in charge of the project), proposing the research. A summary of completed reviews is sent to the Principal Investigator and select portions of the reviews may be publicly visible.

I am a researcher or clinician with a repurposing idea-what should I do on CureAccelerator?

Join our global community! First, decide if your idea is ready for public disclosure, or if you need to contact your tech transfer or business development area to decide if you should protect any intellectual property in your idea. We also recommend searching for existing, related conversations and already proposed research on CureAccelerator. When you’re ready to tell other CureAccelerator users about your repurposing idea, start a conversation thread, or propose a pre-clinical or clinical trial for review and potential funding.

I am a clinician who wants to have a peer-peer discussion about off-label uses of existing products with other clinicians. Is there a way to do that on CureAccelerator?

Yes – we encourage dialogue among clinicians and recommend that you initiate a discussion in our forum, and limit access only to other clinicians or researchers.

All Users on CureAccelerator can:

• start new general forum discussions and participate in general forum discussions. Users can restrict discussions they initiate to one or more specific User types, including creating peer-peer discussions;
• comment on and participate in discussions within posted Repurposing Research Project Proposal Summaries (PPS) and Requests for Proposals (RFP);
• see titles of all posted Requests for Proposals and Project Proposal Summaries, and may be able to view some or all of the details depending on access granted by the User who posted the RFP or PPS;
• disclose their own health information (but may not disclose the specific health information of any other person); and
• invite others to become Users on CureAccelerator.

Patients, Caregivers, Industry Representatives, Patient Advocacy Group (PAG) and Disease Research Non-profit Representatives (VHO), Academic Institution Representatives, Government Representatives and General Users can all participate in the above activities on CureAccelerator.

Funders, Researchers, and Clinicians are authorized to participate in additional ways on CureAccelerator, in addition to the General User participation above.

PLEASE NOTE: Industry Representatives, Patient Advocacy Groups (PAG) and Disease Research Non-profit Representatives (VHO), Academic Institution Representatives, Government Representatives who are also Funders, Researchers, or Clinicians can register as a Funder, Researcher, or Clinician and will have the same rights and access as any other Funder, Researcher, or Clinician. However, to act on behalf of their organization in the Funder, Researcher, or Clinician role, they must have organization approval.

Funders

A Funder is an individual participating alone or as a member of a funding group, organization or company. A Funder is willing to provide, or consider providing, significant funding dollars to support one or more Repurposing Research projects proposed on CureAccelerator.

In addition to starting and participating in discussions, a Funder can:

• post a “Request for Proposal” (RFP) describing Repurposing Research they would consider funding if it were proposed by a Researcher or Clinician, often in a particular disease or patient population, either as an individual or as part of a group of Funders;
• pledge support to and commit support to a specific project or projects; and
• join with other Funders to jointly support a specific project or projects.

At this time, Funders who are also clinicians and/or researchers can register an additional persona on CureAccelerator and that persona will have all of the rights and access of that additional User Role.

Researchers

A Researcher is a scientist with a Masters Degree, PhD or MD who conducts research, or who has the skills to conduct/review research.

In addition to starting and participating in discussions, a Researcher can:

• post a new Repurposing Research Project Proposal Summary in search of funding;
• post Repurposing Research Project Proposal Summary to respond to Funder RFPs;
• suggest to patients that they participate in projects; and
• review posted Repurposing Research projects, upon invitation from CureAccelerator.

Researchers are asked not to disclose the identified health information of specific patients or research subjects on CureAccelerator, except that they may disclose their own health information.

At this time, Researchers who are also clinicians and/or funders can register an additional persona on CureAccelerator and that persona will have all of the rights and access of that additional User Role.