Texas possesses every essential component of a competitive oncology innovation landscape: substantial National Cancer Institute funding, world-class clinical institutions, a deep bench of translational scientists, and a statewide commitment to commercialization. Yet as the background analysis makes clear, the existence of these components alone does not guarantee translation.
In 2021, Texas ranked fifth nationally in total NCI funding, but twelfth in gross licensing income. The implication is not a lack of discovery. It is a structural gap between discovery and durable commercialization. Early-stage cancer-focused device startups, especially in the zero-to-one phase of product development, face significant barriers in translating concepts into viable prototypes and clinically relevant solutions.
This is the problem we set out to solve.
At the center of Texas’ oncology strategy is the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT), whose mandate extends beyond funding discovery to catalyzing translation.
“CPRIT was created by the Texas legislature to fund the fight against cancer in Texas, yet funding alone cannot defeat cancer,” said CPRIT CEO Kristen Doyle. “We are unique in our sustained commitment to go beyond basic funding — to fuel the entire cancer fight that begins with preventing and detecting cancer early to accelerating efforts to translate groundbreaking discoveries into cancer cures and treatments. Working alongside vital partners like the Texas Medical Center, this bold, comprehensive strategy has driven real progress and built a robust life science ecosystem and transformed Texas into a global hub for cancer innovation.”
CPRIT’s investment philosophy recognizes that scientific breakthroughs must be coupled with infrastructure, mentorship, and commercialization pathways if they are to reach patients.
That vision converges at the Texas Medical Center, A Platform Built for Translation
The Texas Medical Center is often described by its scale—millions of patient encounters each year and thousands of active clinical trials—but scale alone does not explain its role in innovation.
What has taken shape over the past decade is something more intentional.
Through TMC Innovation Factory, a platform has been built to connect what is typically fragmented: early-stage founders, clinical insight, engineering infrastructure, and capital. Strategic enablement through accelerator programs, specialized infrastructure within Medical Device Labs @ TMC, and engaged capital through the venture network are not independent assets—they are designed to work in concert.
This model shaped the Accelerator for Cancer Therapeutics (ACT), where embedding business, regulatory, and clinical perspectives early led to more grounded and capital-efficient development paths.
But as that work progressed, a different pattern began to surface.
In healthcare innovation, medical devices are often associated with cardiovascular care, orthopedics, or imaging. Cancer, by contrast, is still largely viewed through the lens of therapeutics. Yet cancer care is inherently interdisciplinary. A single patient journey may involve surgical intervention, drug therapy, reconstruction, diagnostics, and ongoing monitoring—each step dependent on tools, systems, and technologies that extend far beyond a single specialty.
What became clear is that cancer is not lacking in need for devices—it is defined by it.
And yet, the infrastructure to support cancer-focused device development, particularly in the earliest stages, has historically been limited.
As Tom Luby, Chief Innovation Officer at TMC, often frames it:
“Cancer is one of the most interdisciplinary areas in medicine. It’s not just about treating a tumor—it’s about diagnosing it, removing it, delivering therapy, and supporting the patient through recovery. Each of those steps relies on different technologies. If we’re not thinking about devices in that full continuum of care, we’re missing a significant part of how cancer is actually treated.”
ACT demonstrated what is possible when structure is applied to therapeutics.
It also made visible what was missing.
There was a precision gap in cancer medical devices.
The Micron-Scale Challenge
When we looked across oncology research in Texas, a clear pattern emerged: many of the most promising ideas depend on precision at the micron scale.
These aren’t just standalone devices. They are enabling technologies—tools that can isolate cells more effectively, refine biological samples, or deliver therapies with greater accuracy. In many cases, the device is what makes the therapeutic viable. A more precise harvesting or sorting tool, for example, can directly improve the effectiveness of a cell therapy.
But too often, these ideas stall at the same point: the prototype.
The challenge isn’t scientific imagination, it’s the ability to physically build what’s been designed. Traditional machining lacks the resolution. Standard 3D printing lacks the fidelity. And without access to the right tools, promising innovations never move forward.
Accelerator for Cancer Medical Devices (ACMD) was created to close that gap.
ACMD: More Than an Accelerator
Applications for the Accelerator for Cancer Medical Devices (ACMD) open April 6th, with a May 8 deadline.
ACMD is looking for Texas-based innovation. The program is designed for founders, clinicians, engineers, and researchers building oncology-focused devices—especially those in the early, zero-to-one phase. ACMD was designed as an integrated pathway, one that recognizes that building a cancer device requires simultaneous progress in engineering, regulatory planning, market strategy, and clinical translation.
Within ACMD, inventors do not move from prototype to business plan in isolation. They develop both in parallel. They refine their technical design while defining their regulatory pathway. They test assumptions about market fit while shaping preclinical strategy. By the end of the program, participants are not walking away with a pitch deck alone—they leave with a functional prototype, a structured commercialization plan, and a clear line of sight to clinical validation.
The Prototyping Core: Where Precision Becomes Possible
At the center of this effort is the CPRIT Prototyping Core within Medical Device Labs @ TMC, built to remove one of the biggest barriers in early-stage device development: the cost and complexity of fabrication.
Instead of outsourcing expensive iterations, teams have access to an in-house machine shop capable of high-precision, custom fabrication across both metal and polymer components. The facility includes 5-axis CNC mills, EDM systems, automated lathes, laser welding, and advanced finishing tools—enabling rapid production of intricate parts that meet the demands of medical-grade devices.
This is complemented by high-resolution 3D printing and computational modeling, allowing teams to simulate, refine, and build in a continuous loop.
The result is a different starting point: not “Can we afford to prototype this?” but “How quickly can we improve it?”
Translation Is Engineered
Equipment alone doesn’t move a device to the clinic.
ACMD pairs technical development with structured guidance across regulatory strategy, reimbursement, clinical planning, and capital formation—ensuring founders build with the end in mind, not as an afterthought. Entrepreneurs-in-Residence and a deep bench of clinical and commercialization advisors work alongside teams to help avoid costly missteps early.
As Dave McDonough, Entrepreneur-in-Residence, puts it:
“One of the biggest shifts here is starting with commercial viability, not treating it as a downstream question. Founders are thinking early about reimbursement, adoption, and market fit. That’s where the EIR resource plays a critical role—bringing pattern recognition from commercialization. It changes not just speed, but the quality of the business being built.”
The lesson is simple: innovation doesn’t advance on science alone—it advances when translation is intentionally structured.
A Statewide Commitment
Texas has made a clear decision: discovery alone is not enough. Innovation must translate.
Across the state, the pieces are in place—research depth, clinical scale, committed capital, and a growing culture of collaboration. The opportunity now is to align those strengths so that promising cancer technologies do not stall at the prototype stage, but move steadily toward clinical reality.
The goal is larger than any single program. It is about ensuring that when a cancer device is imagined here, it has the support to become meaningful in the lives of patients.
We look forward to welcoming our first cohort this year as we continue building a future where cancer innovations move from concept to clinic with greater speed and precision.
Applications for the Accelerator for Cancer Medical Devices (ACMD) open April 6 and close May 8. Apply now to be part of it.