*8.1. Research Centers Specialized in Toxinology*

Created in 1962, the State of São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) has robust programs of fellowships and research aiming to promote scientific research in the state of São Paulo. Focusing on the production of multidisciplinary scientific knowledge with high-impact science, in 2000, FAPESP started a program to create Research, Innovation, and Dissemination Centers (RIDC). The "Center for Applied Toxinology (CAT)", dedicated to studying animal and microbial toxins, based at Butantan Institute in São Paulo, Brazil was one of the 17 RIDC selected projects (https://fapesp.br/cepid/pasta\_cepid.pdf?t=1; (accessed on 31 August 2001). The CAT's scientific findings enrolled in toxin-based drugs affecting the blood clotting, cardiovascular system, pain perception, antiproliferative compounds, and immune suppression resulted in the filing of eight patents, and the technology was transferred to three Brazilian pharmaceutical companies [94].

Motivated by the knowledge and technological innovation resulted from CAT experience along its 10 years, the assembled researchers started another ambitious project and created the "Center of Toxins, Immune Response, and Cell Signaling (CETICS)", a center of excellence in toxins, immune response, and cell signaling, also based at Butantan Institute and supported by FAPESP (https://bv.fapesp.br/pt/auxilios/58571/cetics-centro-detoxinas-imuno-resposta-e-sinalizacao-celular/; (accessed on 31 August 2001).

Again, according to the rules of an FAPESP program, Butantan Institute initiated a long-term research program enrolling Research Institutes and companies. Created in the public–private partnership (PPP) model, the "Center of Excellence in New Target Discovery (CENTD)" resulted from a partnership among the Butantan Institute, FAPESP, and GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceutical (GSK). As a multidisciplinary center inaugurated in 2017, the CENTD focus is to use venoms and secretions to validate new therapeutic targets for inflammatory diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, metabolic syndrome, and neurodegenerative diseases. Recently renewed, CENTD has so far achieved eight patents and many scientific publications.
