Travis County DA Investigating State Cancer Institute

There’s more trouble for the state’s embattled cancer-fighting agency.

The Travis County District Attorney’s office is now investigating the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, better known as CPRIT.

Gregg Cox is the head of the Public Integrity Unit in the Travis County DA’s office. He says they’ll be looking at how contracts were awarded.

“We notified CPRIT to preserve and protect from destruction all records, documents, computer records, and everything like that,” Cox tells KUT News. “And at this point we are gathering information to begin this process.”

The investigation comes after CPRIT revealed it awarded $11 million in taxpayer funds to a Dallas biotechnology firm without the required scientific or business reviews. The Texas Attorney General’s office has launched a separate examination of the awards process.

Meanwhile, CPRIT’s executive director Bill Gimson has submitted a letter of resignation, saying he can no longer be effective as the head of the $3 billion agency.