Company* (Country; Symbol) |
Funding Institution | Amount (US$M) | Type | Details (Date) |
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FIRST QUARTER 2010 | ||||
Ablynx NV (Belgium; BR:ABLX) | Flemish agency for Innovation by Science and Technology | €1.2 ($1.6) | Grant | To support preclinical and clinical work with ALX-0061 for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases (2/22) |
Achillion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ACHN) | National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease | ND | Phase I SBIR grant | To study and characterize a back-up series of compounds to the antibiotic ACH-702 for tuberculosis (3/19) |
Adeona Pharmaceuticals Inc. (AMEX:AEN) | American Recovery and Reinvestment Act | $0.86 | Grant | For the ongoing Phase II/III trial of Trimesta for multiple sclerosis (1/11) |
Affiris AG* (Austria) | Austrian Research Promotion Agency | €1.2 ($1.6) | Grant | For a hypertension vaccine that will use Affiris' Affitome technology to target angiotensin II, a peptide that can cause narrowing of the blood vessels (2/26) |
Amsterdam Molecular Therapeutics* (the Netherlands) | Dutch government | €4 ($5.7) | Innovation credit | To support the development of its gene therapy treatment for Duchenne's muscular dystrophy (1/7) |
Arcadia Biosciences Inc.* | National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act | $0.856 | STTR grant | To help fund Phase II development of wheat varieties with reduced celiac disease- causing proteins (2/17) |
AVI BioPharma Inc. (AVII) | CureDuchenne and the Foundation to Eradicate Duchenne | $0.5 | Grants | To support research and development of the company's exon-skipping drug candidates for the treatment of Duchenne's muscular dystrophy (2/17) |
Carmot Therapeutics Inc.*, Opsona Therapeutics Ltd.* (Ireland), InterMed Discovery GmbH* (Germany), FoldRx Pharmaceuticals Inc., Pfizer Inc. and Envivo Pharmaceuticals Inc. | Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research | $2.1 | Grants | For preclinical projects focused on neuroprotective therapeutic targets for Parkinson's disease, including Carmot, Opsona and Intermed's focus on inflammation and oxidative stress, FoldRx and Pfizer's focus on alpha-synuclein, plus Envivo's program looking at inhibitors of histone deacetylase (1/20) |
Celsion Corp. (CLSN) | Center for Translational Molecular Medicine | ND | Grant | For magnetic resonance imaging- guided high intensity-focused ultrasound to improve cancer chemotherapy (2/23) |
DeveloGen AG* (Germany) | Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation | $0.5 | Grant | For research of mechanisms for the protection of beta cells (2/24) |
GeneGo Inc.* | National Institute of General Medical Sciences | $0.336 | Phase I SBIR grant | For creating a type of predictive signature for drug resistance (1/13) |
Hepregen Corp.* | National Science Foundation | $0.5 | Phase II SBIR grant | To support its work developing a human liver platform for high-throughput screening of drug-induced liver injury and drug-drug interaction (1/15) |
Horizon Discovery Ltd.* (UK) | University of Torino (Italy) | $0.5 | Eurostars grant | To research a novel class of inherited and somatic noncoding cancer-related single-nucleotide polymorphisms (2/17) |
Intellikine Inc.* and Tragara Pharmaceuticals Inc.* | Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation | $1 | Biotech Investment Award grant | To fund the early stage drug development of compounds and approaches that show potential in treating multiple myeloma (3/30) |
Isotechnika Pharma Inc. (Canada; TSX:ISA) | National Research Council | C$0.237($0.23) | Industrial Research Assistance Program grant | For its non-immunosuppressive cyclosporin analogue molecules program (3/5) |
Mirna Therapeutics Inc.* | Texas Emerging Technology Fund | $5 | Grant | To develop miRNA therapeutics for multiple cancers (1/12) |
NeurAxon Inc.* | Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research | $0.267 | Grant | To fund research exploring neuronal nitric oxide synthase inhibitors as a potential treatment paradigm in Parkinson's research (1/12) |
OncoTek Drug Discovery Inc. (subsidiary of Receptor Therapeutics Inc.*; Canada) | Ontario Institute for Cancer Research | ND | Grant | For preclinical development of PoLi- PTX, an intraperitoneal ovarian cancer therapy (3/25) |
Orphagen Pharmaceuticals Inc.* | National Institutes of Health | $1.2 | Phase II SBIR grant | To further characterize a class of small-molecule drugs that have the potential to treat circadian rhythm sleep disorders and psychiatric illnesses such as anxiety, depression or psychosis (2/2) |
Pangu BioPharma (Hong Kong; subsidiary of aTyr Pharma Inc.*) | Hong Kong University of Science and Technology | ND | Grant | To fund research it is performing with the university in the identification and characterization of naturally occurring splice variants of human tRNA synthe-tases (3/2) |
PDS Biotechnology Corp.* | National Cancer Institute | $1.28 | Phase II SBIR grant | To complete studies required for an investigational new drug application for its lead human papillomavirus-cancer product (3/3) |
Pronota NV* (Belgium) | Institute for the Promotion of Innovation by Science and Technology (Belgium) | €1.4 ($2) | Grant | To further validate and develop biomarkers for the management of heart failure (1/13) |
Sirion Biotech GmbH* (Germany) and Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen (Germany) | Federal Ministry for Economics and Technology (Germany) | €0.5 ($0.674) | Two-year grant | To develop new therapeutic approaches against lymphoid tumors (3/30) |
Targacept Inc. (TRGT) | Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research | $0.304 | Grant | To fund a project on development of an alpha6-selective neuronal nicotinic receptor imaging agent as a Parkinson's disease biomarker (2/9) |
Terpenoid Therapeutics Inc.* | National Institutes of Health | $0.946 | Phase II STTR grant and a Phase I SBIR grant | To advance cancer drug candidates toward commercialization (1/27) |
Transposagen Biopharmaceuticals Inc.* | National Cancer Institute and Kentucky economic development office | $0.412 | SBIR grant | For its work developing a rat model of human colorectal cancer (1/26) |
Zyngenia Inc.* | State of Maryland and Montgomery County | $2.5 | Bioscience Strategy grant | To support the new life sciences company that has 14 employees (3/12) |
SECOND QUARTER 2010 | ||||
Aestus Therapeutics Inc.* | National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke | $2 | SBIR grant | To fund clinical trials of Aestus' treatment for chronic neuropathic pain (6/10) |
Amarantus Therapeutics Inc.* and Biodesy LLC* | The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research | $3 | Grant | More than $3M was split among the two companies and 15 university programs (4/26); Amarantus reported it received $350,000 from the foundation to study the efficacy of mesencephalic astrocyte-derived neurotrophic factor (4/29) |
American Life Science Pharmaceuticals Inc.* | Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation | $0.248 | Grant | To allow for the manufacture of its lead drug candidate for preclinical toxicology testing in preparation for Phase I trials (5/25) |
Amicus Therapeutics Inc. (FOLD) | Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation | $0.21 | Grant | To evaluate small-molecule, orally delivered pharmacological chaperone compounds to treat Alzheimer's disease (5/10) |
Avaxia Biologics Inc.* | National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases | $0.213 | Phase I SBIR grant | To support development of a novel antibody therapeutic for inflammatory bowel disease (4/2) |
BioMarker Strategies* | National Cancer Institute | $1 | Phase II SBIR grant | To develop the SnapPath live tumor cell testing system (5/4) |
Ceregene Inc.*, Biovail Corp. (Canada; TSX:BVF) and Med-Genesis Therapeutix Inc.* (Canada) | Michael J. Fox Foundation | $4.6 | Grants | Ceregene received $2.5M for Phase II testing of CERE-120, and Biovail and MedGenesis received the rest to develop a glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (6/23) |
CLC Bio* (Denmark), Ion Torrent* and Aarhus University Hospital | Danish National Advanced Technology Foundation | $2 | Grant | For a three-year project to develop an integrated software and hardware solution for molecular diagnostics to more quickly and precisely diagnose patient DNA samples through advanced software (6/16) |
Critical Outcome Technologies Inc. (Canada) | National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program | $0.3 | Grant | To support development of multikinase targets against acute myelogenous leukemia (6/30) |
Evotec AG (Germany; FSE:EVT) | German Federal Ministry of Education and Research | €1.5 ($1.98) | Grant | To advance its H3 receptor antagonist program into the clinic (4/28) |
Five Prime Therapeutics Inc.* | Fast Forward LLC, a subsidiary of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society | $1 | Grant | To develop a preclinical MS drug that targets the innate immune system (5/26) |
Inovio Biomedical Corp. (AMEX:INO), Drexel University,Cheyney University and the University of Pennsylvania | State of Pennsylvania grant | $2.8 | Commonwealth Universal Research Enhancement Program | To develop a DNA vaccine to treat hepatitis C virus (4/12) |
IPierian Inc.* | California Institute of Regenerative Medicine | $1.5 | Basic Biology Award | To provide valuable insights into the biological pathways and molecular targets involved in inducing pluripotent stem cells (5/3) |
Lentigen Corp.* | National Institutes of Health | ND | STTR grant | For a program on Lentiviral gene therapy for mucopoly-saccharidosis (5/19) |
Leonardo Biosystems* | Texas Emerging Technology Fund | $2.5 | Grant | For a multistage drug delivery platform to improve the effectiveness of drug therapy, particularly for cancer (6/8) |
Living Cell Technologies Ltd. (Australia; BE:LHI) | Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International | $0.5 | Grant | For its ongoing Phase II trial of Diabecell in New Zealand (4/28) |
Mirna Therapeutics Inc.* | Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas | $10.3 | Grant | To advance its microRNA mimic discovery platform and a pipeline of cancer drug candidates (6/22) |
MitoSciences Inc.* | National Institutes of Health | $0.59 | Grant | To support the development of companion diagnostic tests for antiviral drugs (5/14) |
NanoBio Corp.* and University of Michigan | National Institutes of Health | ND | Phase I Technology Transfer award | To evaluate a potential therapeutic intranasal vaccine for the treatment of hepatitis B (4/21) |
Neoprobe Corp. (OTC BB:NEOP) | Ohio's Third Frontier Commission | $1 | Grant | To fund ongoing development of its Lymphoseek radiopharmaceutical initiative (6/25) |
Oragenics Inc. (AMEX:ONI) | National Science Foundation | $0.5 | Grant | To support the company's DPOLT Lantibiotic Synthesis Platform (6/15) |
Pluristem Therapeutics Inc. (PSTI) | Office of the Chief Scientist at the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor of Israel | $2.5 | Grant | For research and development of PLX-PAD in critical limb ischemia and moderate-severe claudication (6/29) |
PolyMedix Inc. (OTC BB:PYMX) |
National Science Foundation |
$0.15 | Grant | To support the development of antimicrobial sutures (5/28) |
Prolor Biotech Inc. (Israel; AMEX:PBTH) | Israeli Office of the Chief Scientist | $1.6 | Grant | To support development of hGH-CTP, a longer-acting version of human growth hormone (4/13) |
Protalix Bio-Therapeutics Inc. (Israel; AMEX:PLX) | Office of the Chief Scientist of Israel's Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor | $4.1 | Grant | Up to $2.9M of the funds are for the advancement of early stage pipeline product candidates, and up to $1.2M is for further development of taliglucerase alfa (5/18) |
Protein Potential LLC* | National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases | $3 | Phase II SBIR grant | To support translational re search to develop a vaccine for the prevention of malaria caused by the parasite Plasmodium vivax (4/20) |
Q Therapeutics Inc.* and Johns Hopkins University | Maryland Stem Cell Research Fund | $1 | Grant | To enable further study of Q's human neural glial cell product Q-Cells in preclinical models of demyelinating disease (6/3) |
RegeneRx Bio-pharmaceuticals Inc. (AMEX:RGN) | National Institutes of Health's National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute | $3 | Grant | To support clinical development of RGN-352 for patients who have suffered an acute myocardial infarction (5/14) |
Savara Inc.* | Texas Emerging Technology Fund | $1.9 | Commercialization award | For the commercialization of its dry-powder technology for treating asthma, lung cancer and other lung-based diseases (6/16) |
Signum Biosciences Inc.* | Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation | $0.27 | Grant | To evaluate small-molecule, orally delivered protein phosphatase 2a-modulatory compounds as disease-modifying therapeutics for AD (4/1) |
Sirnaomics Inc.* | National Cancer Institute and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases | ND | SBIR grants | For multitargeted siRNA therapeutics using its nanoparticle-enhanced delivery technologies, with programs in cancer, respiratory infections and scarless wound healing (6/30) |
Sorrento Therapeutics Inc. (OTC BB:SRNE) | National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases | $0.3 | Phase I Advanced Technology STTR grant | To help generate and develop antibody therapeutics and vaccines against Staphylococcus aureus infections (5/24) |
Synedgen Inc.* | U.S. Army | $2.73 | Grant | To develop treatments for drug-resistant bacteria that affect troops injured in battle (5/13) |
TriLink BioTechnologies Inc.* | National Institutes of Health | $0.725 | Phase II SBIR grant | To continue the firm's work on developing reagents to enhance the specificity of DNA ligase (6/23) |
ZenBio Inc.* | National Institutes of Health | ND | Phase I SBIR grant ` |
To establish novel human cell-based models of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease useful for basic research and as a potential drug development platform (4/22) |
THIRD QUARTER 2010 | ||||
Acorda Therapeutics Inc. (ACOR) | National, Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute | $1 | Grant | To support research on glial growth factor 2, an investigational agent to treat heart failure (7/21) |
Biodel Inc. (BIOD), Stanford University and Oregon Health & Science University | Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation | $0.407 | Research grants | To evaluate the use of VIAject rapid-acting injectable human insulin in the treatment of diabetes (7/13) |
Cortex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (OTC BB:CORX) | Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research | ND | Grant | To test selected compounds from its Ampakine platform for their ability to restore brain function in animal models of Parkinson's disease (7/7) |
Cytokinetics Inc. (CYTK) | National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke | $2.9 | Grant | To study CK-2017357 for myasthenia gravis (7/27) |
Dynavax Technologies Corp. (DVAX) | National Institutes of Health | $0.6 | Grant | To explore the feasibility of developing a universal vaccine to prevent infection by human papillomavirus (7/8) |
Edge Therapeutics Inc.* | New Jersey Economic Development Authority | $0.1 | Grant | To further develop treatments for preventing secondary brain damage that occurs after hemorrhagic stroke or traumatic brain injury (7/14) |
MacroGenics Inc.* | National Institutes of Health | $9.8 | Grants | To help advance its Dual-Affinity ReTargeting, or bispecific anti-body scaffold platform, as well as its portfolio of infectious disease product candidates (7/16) |
MorphoSys AG (Germany; FSE:MOR) | German Federal Ministry of Education and Research | €1 ($1.25) | Grant | To advance the anti-CD38 antibody MOR202 into clinical development for multiple myeloma and to explore relevant biomarkers (7/7) |
Oxford BioMedica plc (UK; LSE:OXB) and VIB* (Belgium) | UK Motor Neurone Disease Association | €0.255 ($0.3175) | Research grant | To support the further preclinical evaluation of MoNuDin as a treatment for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (7/2) |
PolyMedix Inc. (OTC BB:PYMX) | National Institutes of Health | $0.5 | Grant | To support the development of defensin-mimetic antimicrobial compounds for the treatment of malaria (7/8) |
RXi Pharmaceuticals Corp. (RXII) | National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases | ND | SBIR grant | For preclinical development of RNAi therapeutics using RXi's therapeutic platform, which includes both novel RNAi compounds and advanced delivery technologies (7/14) |
Sangamo BioSciences Inc. (SGMO) | Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research | $0.9 | Grant | To support studies in nonhuman primates for the development of a ZFP therapeutic in Parkinson's disease (7/2) |
Notes: * Indicates a privately held company. ** Denotes the date the item ran in BioWorld International.The date indicated refers to the BioWorld Today issue in which the news item can be found. Currency conversions reflect values at the time of a deal's announcement.SBIR = Small Business Innovation Research; STTR = Small Business Technology Transfer. Unless otherwise indicated, symbols listed are on the Nasdaq market.AMEX = American Stock Exchange; BR = Brussels Stock Exchange; FSE = Frankfurt Stock Exchange; OTC BB = Over-the-Counter Bulletin Board; TSX = Toronto Stock Exchange. | ||||