Fast Forward - Speeding Treatments To People With MS

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Letter from Tim Coetzee, President Fast Forward

Tim Coetzee, Executive DirectorWelcome to the Fast Forward web site. I’m Tim Coetzee, the president of this innovative new business venture. Fast Forward is a subsidiary of the nonprofit National Multiple Sclerosis Society, and like the Society, we are committed to moving closer to a world free of multiple sclerosis.

We are taking a business approach to speeding development of treatments and seeking a cure for people living with MS.

Drug development for MS and other diseases is costly and risky. Those challenges are magnified for MS, which impacts a small number of people — about 500,000 in the United States. That can deter companies from pursuing MS research and therapies. Those companies that do, have difficulty securing funds to move scientific ideas from basic research and into preclinical development. That funding gap inevitably slows the process.

Fast Forward aims to close the gap. We will partner with investors and donors who see the value of innovative drug discovery. We will seek out promising companies and scientists with fresh ideas. We will grant seed money to projects with potential. And we will speed the movement of those projects toward FDA approval … providing more MS treatments to more people, faster.

I am currently looking for investors and donors who see the value of a business approach to medical discovery. And I’m looking for partners in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and device industries who have promising ideas. Feel free to contact me if you’re interested in learning more or getting involved. Thank you. Listen to an overview of Fast Forward