Company
(location)

Funding institution

Amount (US$M)

Type

Details

Date

DECEMBER

Cancer Targeted Technology (Seattle)

National Cancer Institute

$2

SBIR phase I/II fast track contract

To develop a new agent to treat metastatic prostate cancer; the contract develops a promising unique radiotherapeutic drug, CTT1403, that targets Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigen (PSMA)

12/20/16

Herantis Pharma plc (Helsinki, Finland)

EU Horizon 2020 program

€6

Grant

For phase I-II study with Herantis' drug candidate CDNF for the treatment of Parkinson's disease, using a drug administration device from Renishaw plc and for supporting scientific research

12/13/16

Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Plymouth Meeting, Pa.)

The Wistar Institute

$6.1

Subgrant

To develop a DNA-based monoclonal antibody to provide a fast-acting treatment against Zika virus infection that will be ready for human trials in less than two years; the program is funded by a grant to Wistar from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

12/2/16

Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Plymouth Meeting, Pa.)

International Vaccine Institute

N/A

Funding

For its vaccine for Middle East respiratory syndrome virus infection, GLA-5300; the IVI funding will provide technical, laboratory and financial support for GLS-5300 clinical trials in South Korea

12/7/16

International consortium of complement experts from Italy, the U.K., Germany, Spain and Poland

Network of European Funding for Neuroscience Research

$1.4

Grant

To study the benefits of inhibiting mannan-binding lectin-associated serine protease-2 (MASP-2) and the lectin pathway in traumatic brain injury; Seattle-based Omeros Corp.'s OMS721 is a human monoclonal antibody that inhibits MASP-2, which is the effector enzyme of the lectin pathway of the complement system

12/1/16

Karyopharm Therapeutics Inc. (Newton, Mass.)

Target ALS Foundation

$0.9

Grant

For research funding over a two-year period to support preclinical studies of KPT-350 in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)

12/16/16

Mesoblast Ltd. (Melbourne, Australia)

MD Anderson Cancer Center and the NIH

N/A

Funding

For a clinical trial that combines Mesoblast's Mesenchymal Precursor Cell-based expansion and ex-vivo fucosylation of hematopoietic stem cells for cord blood transplantation in cancer patients

12/7/16

Oryzon Genomics SA (Barcelona, Spain)

Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, Government of Spain and FEDER Funds from the EU

$0.8

Grant

Grant, in the form of a loan with interest rate, from the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, Government of Spain and FEDER Funds from the EU and included under the RETOS Collaboration 2016 program; Oryzon will receive about $800,000 (multiyear disbursements) for further development of its epigenetic inhibitors against inflammatory indications

12/22/16

Sujana Biotech LLC (Cleveland)

National Heart Lung and Blood Institute's Vascular Innovations and Therapeutic Advances program

$0.81

Grant

To support the development of a therapeutic for the treatment of a range of vascular and inflammatory diseases

12/23/16

Univercells SA (Charleroi, Belgium)

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

$12

Grant

For the development of a vaccine manufacturing platform, with the objective of radically lowering costs and increasing vaccine availability and affordability in developing countries

12/16/16

JANUARY

Abcellera Biologics Inc. (Vancouver, British Columbia)

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

N/A

Grant

To discover monoclonal antibodies against Mycobacterium tuberculosis; the project will use Abcellera's antibody discovery platform to generate panels of high-affinity monoclonal antibodies against 10 tuberculosis targets

1/20/17

Anavex Life Sciences Corp. (New York)

International Rett Syndrome Foundation

$0.6

Grant

To cover the majority of a planned U.S. multicenter phase II trial of ANAVEX 2-73 for the treatment of Rett syndrome

1/20/17

Atrapos Therapeutics LLC (Houston)

National Institutes of Health

$0.23

Grant

To continue development of PM-43I, the company's asthma drug designed as an alternative to steroids; Atrapos also won significant in-kind support from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute's SMARTT Program, which will fund the manufacturing of GMP-grade material in preparation for IND-enabling toxicology studies and regulatory support services

1/27/17

Bone Therapeutics SA (Gosselies, Belgium)

Walloon Region

$2.4

Two-year research grant

Granted €2.3M (US$2.4M) in nondilutive funding to support its research programs. The funding was granted by decision of the Minister for Economy, Industry, Innovation and New Technologies; the funding will cover up to 52% of expenses related to three new research projects: to further investigate the application of Allob for potential additional indications and to further optimize the production and logistics of the firm's cellular products

1/9/17

Cellecta Inc. (Mountain View, Calif.)

National Institutes of Health

N/A

Phase II SBIR grant

To advance development of CRISPR/Cas9 library technology

1/27/17

Contravir Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Edison, N.J.)

National Research Council in Canada

$0.22

Research grant

To support personnel costs associated with preclinical development of cyclophilin inhibitor CRV431

1/4/17

Cypralist Ltd. (Cambridge, U.K.)

Innovate U.K.

N/A

Grant

Via Biomedical Catalyst competition; funding focused on ways to generate new inhibitors of cyclophilin D to target degenerative diseases such as pancreatitis, ischemias and CNS degeneration; an early stage study starts this month

1/24/17

Delmar Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Vancouver, British Columbia)

National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program

$312

Funding

C$413,00 (US$312,465) to support ongoing research with VAL-083, a first-in-class, small-molecule chemotherapeutic

1/10/17

Discuva Ltd. (Cambridge, U.K.)

Innovate U.K.

$1.9

Grant

To develop antibiotics to tackle multidrug-resistance and life-threatening bacterial infections

1/26/17

Fedora Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Edmonton, Alberta)

National Research Council of Canada's Industrial Research Assistance Program

N/A

Funding

To develop a pipeline of antimicrobial product candidates

1/18/17

Kymab Group Ltd. (Cambridge, U.K.)

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

$9

Grant

To accelerate over the next three years the development of novel vaccines and therapeutics for infectious diseases, including HIV, using its Kymouse antibody platform

1/10/17

Recombinant Technologies LLC (Cheshire, Conn.)

National Institutes of Health

$1

Award

To develop its Amytrap product to treat Alzheimer's disease

1/18/17

Xenikos BV (Nijmegen, the Netherlands)

Netherlands Enterprise Agency

$1.04

Innovation credit extension

To support development of T-Guard, in phase I/II for steroid-resistant acute graft-vs.-host disease; Xenikos received E1M (US$1.04M)

1/4/17

FEBRUARY

Addex Therapeutics SA (Geneva)

Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research

$0.84

Grant

For the discovery and development of tyrosine receptor kinase B-positive allosteric modulators as potential treatments for Parkinson's disease

2/1/17

Aequus Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Vancouver, British Columbia)

National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program

$0.08

Funding

Up to C$100,000 (US$76,400) to support the ongoing proof-of-concept study of AQS1301, a once-weekly transdermal aripiprazole patch

2/2/17

Appili Therapeutics Inc. (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency

$2.8

Grant

To take ATI-1501, a taste-masked, reformulation of oral antibiotic metronidazole that treats anaerobic infections like Clostridium difficile, through clinical trials to be ready for market approval

2/21/17

Exonate Ltd. (Cambridge, U.K.)

Wellcome Trust

$6.1

Seeding Drug Discovery award

£4.9M (US$6.1M) to continue development of a eye drop-based treatment for wet age-related macular degeneration; the investment will be used to accelerate the development of the company's small molecules that inhibit production of pro-angiogenic VEGF through selective inhibition of serine/threonine-protein kinase 1 (SRPK1)-mediated VEGF splicing

2/7/17

Forma Therapeutics Inc. (Watertown, Mass.)

Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research

N/A

Grant

To further develop its discovery program in protein homeostasis and ubiquitination to treat Parkinson's disease

2/22/17

Knopp Biosciences LLC (Pittsburgh)

National Institutes of Health Blueprint Neurotherapeutics Network

$3

Grant

To support Knopp's preclinical and clinical development of small-molecule drug candidates directed to a validated antiseizure pharmaceutical target known as Kv7.2

2/17/17

Meiragtx Ltd. (New York)

Target ALS

N/A

Grant

To fund testing of a gene therapy approach to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; focus will be on targeting TDP-43, a protein that is misregulated in more than 95% of all ALS patients

2/2/17

Optikira LLC (Cleveland)

ALS Association

$0.5

Grant

$498,500 to support the development of its platform technology to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; funding will be used to validate the inhibition of IRE1alpha/Rnase as a therapeutic approach to ALS

2/10/17

Polyphor Ltd. (Allschwil, Switzerland)

Wellcome Trust

$2

Seeding Drug Discovery award

CHF2.3M (US$2.3M) to advance the development of broad-spectrum gram-negative preclinical product candidates

2/10/17

Signum Biosciences Inc. (Princeton, N.J.)

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

$3

SBIR phase IIb grant

$3M over three years to develop a topical nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory candidate for atopic dermatitis

2/16/17

Sun Biopharma Inc. (Minneapolis)

National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

N/A

STTR grant

To study the effect of its lead candidate, SBP-101, as a potential treatment for pancreatitis

2/2/17

University of British Columbia

Lilly Canada (Vancouver, British Columbia) and the JDRF

$0.05

Grant

C$60,000 (US$45,600) to support studies into cell-based therapies for type 1 diabetes; UBC researchers have prepared embryonic stem cell-derived islet precursor cells for use in transplant studies under a variety of conditions

2/8/17

Notes

The date indicated refers to the BioWorld Today issue in which the news item can be found.

For more information about individual companies and/or products, see Thomson Reuters Cortellis.