Dirk Spitzer

Based on WU’s Research COI Policy and the Procedures for Determining and Managing Research Financial Conflicts of Interests, the Conflicts of Interest Review Committee (CIRC) determined Dr. Spitzer’s personal financial relationship with Accuronix Therapeutics creates a financial conflict of interest due to the following reasons: His personal financial relationship is related to the research because the research is evaluating a product licensed to Accuronix Therapeutics; He is entitled to future royalties from the licensing of the IP, which is evaluated in the above listed research being conducted at WU; The primary focus of Accuronix Therapeutics is to commercialize the IP being developed and evaluated in the research; The outcomes of the research could directly benefit Accuronix Therapeutics; Since he owns equity in the company, he could directly benefit should the company’s equity value increase as a result of the study; His role in the grant is design of the study, collecting/analyzing/reviewing data, reporting results, oversight of the research, mentor and supervising individuals involved in the research will directly affect all aspects of the research. Note: While the CIRC determined Dr. Spitzer has a financial conflict of interest, the following elements were determined to help offset the risks posed by the conflict: He is uniquely qualified by virtue of his experience and expertise and the research could not be conducted as effectively without his involvement; The research is basic in nature and in its early stages; He has no role in the corresponding human study; There is no increase in risk to the human research participants because their only involvement is to provide tumor samples for in vitro and in vivo testing; Additionally, a plan has been developed to mitigate his financial conflict of interest related to the grant, which is outlined below.