The Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research has been awarded a 5-year, $2.9 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to investigate the potential of human ghrelin as a medical countermeasure against radiation-induced gastrointestinal syndrome.

Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator (CARB-X) will award a seed grant of $610,000 to Justus Liebig University Giessen (JLU) to support the definition of a lead optimization path for the development of a direct-acting peptide therapeutic based on a natural-product scaffold targeting gram-negative pathogens.

Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd. has been awarded an additional $7.3 million from CARB-X (Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator) to support the progression of the company’s novel antibiotic candidate, BAL-2420.

The collaboration aims to identify a small molecule that targets mutant androgen receptor (AR) mRNA splicing and causes selective destruction of the disease-causing mRNA.

Cancer Targeted Technology LLC has been awarded the phase I portion ($400,000) of a fast track phase I/II ($2.4 million) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to develop CTT-2274 to treat metastatic prostate cancer.

Sparian Biosciences Inc. has been awarded a $19.5 million, 5-year grant to fund development of SBS-226 from IND submission through phase I development. SBS-226 is a first-in-class dual μ-opioid receptor partial agonist and δ-opioid receptor full antagonist in development for opiate use disorder and opiate withdrawal syndrome.

Researchers at University of Oxford have been awarded funding by Cancer Research UK to develop a vaccine to prevent ovarian cancer. The team will receive up to £600,000 (US$784,000) for the study over the next 3 years to support lab research on Ovarianvax.