Arizona Biomedical Research Commission Performance Audit Highlights

Az Auditor General

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• Publié par: Shied
• Nombre de lectures: 24
• Langue: English

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Arizona Biomedical Research Commission Commission-fundedREPORT HIGHLIGHTS research has positive PERFORMANCE AUDIT impacts; should be bet- Subject ter documented and The Commission was reported created in 1984 to pro- vide monies for research on the causes and pre- In fiscal year 2008 the Arizona Biomedical Distribution of Research Monies vention of diseases and Research Commission (Commission) Fiscal Year 2008 the development of new awarded, through a competitive process, Northern Arizona University ($374,000)drugs. Some of the St. Joseph’s Hospital ($444,000)$6.6 million for 75 new and ongoing bio- Sun Health ($510,000)research subjects have medical research contracts. In addition,included Alzheimer's Other ($681,000) Disease, Parkinson's the Commission provided over $5.5 Disease, cancer, and the million to the Translational Genomics West Nile Virus. Research Institute (TGen), a private non- Arizona State University ($980,000) 1TGen ($5.7 Million)Our Conclusion profit organization performing advanced translational genomics research. The Commission-funded money for these contracts comes from University of Arizona ($3.4 Million)research appears to tobacco taxes and the Lottery.benefit Arizona in several ways: it brings millions of The textbox below describes an exampleadditional research dol- of a commission-funded research proj-lars into the State, and 1 In addition to the $5.5 million TGen received from the Commission’s Health Research Fund, TGen also received over $200,000 through the Commission’sect.some of this research competitive contract process. focuses on diseases affecting Arizonans such Positive impacts of commission-ffundeeddScorpion Antivenom Projectas sun-induced skin projects—We reviewed a randomly select-cancer and Valley Fever. Fiscal Years 2006 through 2008 ed sample of 27 commission-funded proj-However, the Contract Total $540,553 ects as well as other commission informa-Commission should tion, such as annual reports and patentgather and report more This project initially began in 2000 data, and identified a number of positiveinformation on these when the Arizona producer of scorpion projects including the impacts, including:antivenom retired and experts reported number of patents that the State would run out of the anti- • A focus on special Arizona populations orobtained and the num- venom in the next 5 years. Beginning needs—Subjects of commission-fundedber of jobs funded. projects included Valley Fever, cures usingin fiscal year 2005, the Legislature desert plants, scorpion antivenom, sun-appropriated $150,000 annually to dis- induced skin cancer, and incidences oftribute antivenom donated by a phar- rheumatoid arthritis in Tucson.maceutical company in Mexico. The • Patents—Commission-funded research dis-University of Arizona first received coveries led to eight patents, including one commission funding in 2006 to con- for a compound that inhibits cancer tumor duct the clinical tests needed to obtain growth. the federal Food and Drug Adminis-2008 • Additional research monies received— tration's approval for the donated anti- Researchers used small commission con- venom, and to create a video protocol tracts to gather the preliminary data neededSeptember • Report No. 08 – 05 to train physicians to diagnose and to apply for larger grants. Sixteen of the 27 treat patients with scorpion stings. projects we reviewed received additional grants totaling over $19 million.• Jobs funded—Commission contracts pro- Commission should require and repoorrtt vided full funding for 23 positions and par- impact information on TGen—The tial funding for 80 positions in the 27 proj- Commission provides $5.5 million per ects we reviewed. year to TGen for operating expenses. • Translational research—Commission- Without this funding, TGen believes that funded projects include translational it would not have the money to compete research, which helps convert basic for and receive NIH and other grants. research into products that directly affect The TGen contract requires TGen topatient care (see Scorpion Antivenom report on the number of patents appliedProject, pg.1). According to the for and granted, the number of spin-offsCommission, this research is often under- (a new company created from afunded. About 20 percent of fiscal year research discovery), and other informa-2007’s commission-funded projects were tion. Although the Commission receivestranslational research. information on TGen’s activities in a vari-• Project collaboration—The Commission ety of ways, TGen only partially reportssays collaboration among researchers is this information in its annual report to thean important way to increase the efficiency Commission. To bring TGen's reportingof research. The National Institutes of in line with other commission-fundedHealth (NIH) also encourages collabora- projects, the Commission should ensuretion. Of the 27 projects we reviewed, 22 that TGen reports other impacts such asinvolved collaboration. the number and types of jobs created,• Publications and presentations—The 27 collaborations, and projects focused onprojects we reviewed resulted in at least Arizona-specific populations or needs.TTOO OOBBTTAAIINN 107 publications and 25 presentations. MORE INFORMATION Some impact measures only partially collected; most notA copy of the full report reported—Althoughcan be obtained by calling Types of Information Collected and Reported we were able to(602) 553-00333 For Commission-Funded Projectsidentify a number of Fiscal Years 2001 through 2007positive impacts from commission- Was Information Was Information funded projects, Type of Information Collected? Reported? or by visiting Number of patents Partial No many of these our Web site at: Additional research monies impacts are not fully www.azauditor.gov received from other sources Partial No collected and/or Number of publications Yes Yes reported by theContact person for Number of presentations Partial Partial Commission. Asthis report: Project relevance to Arizona Yes No shown in the table,Dot Reinhard Number of collaborative projects Yes No there is a wider Number and types of jobs funded Yes No range of measures Number of projects involving the Commission 1translational research Yes Yes could be collecting and reporting. Recommendations The Commission should: • Take steps to collect and report more complete information on the impacts of com- mission-funded research, including the number of patents, presentations given, col- laborations, and the number and types of jobs created. • Ensure that TGen reports all required research impacts in its annual report. REPORT Arizona Biomedical HIGHLIGHTS PERFORMANCE AUDITResearch Commission September 2008• Report No. 08 – 05 page 2