NIH awards DiscoveryBioMed a Phase 2 SBIR grant for research on hypertension and cystic fibrosis

DiscoveryBioMed, Inc. (DBM) today announced that it has been awarded a $750,000 Small Business Innovations Research (SBIR) Phase 2 grant by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to continue the research into the discovery and development of small molecules to alleviate multiple chronic human diseases including cystic fibrosis (CF), hypertension and chronic kidney diseases with hypertension.

“We are proud to have been awarded this grant and to have our technology again recognized and validated by the NIH,” said Dr. Erik Schwiebert, Chief Executive Officer of DiscoveryBioMed. “With our academic partners at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, we stand ready to test lead compounds for safety and efficacy in both CF and hypertensive animal models.”

DBM has adapted a known electrical bioassay method to be high-throughput screening friendly, a necessary solution to bring the bioassay to the molecular target endogenous to the apical cell membrane of polarized renal and respiratory epithelia. The molecular target in play for this drug discovery program is an epithelial ion channel that is the rate-limiting step for the handling of salt in the distal portions of the kidney and in the respiratory tract. When over-active, this sodium channel can cause dehydration of the airways and too much salt in the blood, leading to high blood pressure.

“To successfully study this ion channel target, we had to bring the bioassay to the target where it is most comfortable, the apical membrane of a polarized epithelium simulated in in vitro 3D culture,” continued Dr. Schwiebert. “Researchers refer to this target as 'twitchy' since it does not behave the same in other experimental systems. It also depends upon factors produced by the epithelium itself to maintain proper activity. DBM brought the assay to the target and remains true to the principle that the target should be endogenous to a human or mammalian epithelial cell system to empower the most biologically-relevant drug discovery program. We believe screening on life-like human cell platforms is essential in development of drugs that ultimately will be provided to human patients.”

Additionally, DiscoveryBioMed has a pair of closely related lead compounds in hand that it will use as a medicinal chemistry platform. Additional hit-to-lead compounds are emerging. At the end of Phase 2, DBM anticipates having pre-clinical animal data and, possibly, proof-of-concept efficacy data in animals and in humans to show to potential out-license partners.

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