CPRIT PDR — Texas Seed Company
Funds early Texas oncology companies in seed stages while strengthening oncology-specific research development.
Eligibility · United States · US-TX
The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) Texas Seed Company RFA is the entry-level track within the Product Development Research program, which deploys approximately $70 million per fiscal year to Texas oncology companies. The Seed RFA funds company formation and early-stage research and development across all oncology product categories — therapeutics, devices, diagnostics, and enabling tools — with the explicit program goal of progressing technology to a stage attractive to private investment. It is the only PDR track with a published award cap: $3 million per project over a three-year period, with extensions permitted to fully expend awarded funds.
Eligibility is restricted to for-profit companies; nonprofits, universities, and individual applicants are ineligible. Maximum Technology Readiness Level at entry is TRL 4. As with all PDR tracks, a company matching-funds contribution and a revenue-sharing agreement — royalties, equity, or comparable mechanism — are contractually required before funds are released, reflecting CPRIT's Texas General Obligation bond financing structure. Companies based outside Texas may apply but must commit to relocating to Texas prior to award execution.
Applications roll in continuously through the cpritgrants.org portal. The two-stage review begins with a streamlined preliminary package (two-page executive summary, 16-slide deck, one-page aims and budget), which the Product Development Review Council evaluates in three to five weeks. Invited applicants proceed to a full application and zoom presentation before outside due-diligence contractors assess IP, regulatory pathway, manufacturing feasibility, and market potential. Final awards require a two-thirds vote of the CPRIT Oversight Committee. All reviewers are required to live and work outside Texas.
Company formation and early-stage R&D of novel oncology therapeutics, devices, diagnostics, and enabling tools in Texas, capped at $3 million per project.
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