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news.Velcura Therapeutics has received a phase I Small Business Innovation Research grant of $274,000, from the US National Institute on Aging, to further identify the genes and, or, protein networks modulated during human bone formation.
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“This NIA grant allows us to significantly advance our understanding of how genes and their protein-products work together inside a cell to bring about bone formation,” said Velcura’s president and CEO, Dr Michael Long.
This is Velcura’s third National Institute on Aging (NIA) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) award that funds the initial phases of this groundbreaking gene-networks study.
When the study is completed, the company plans to apply to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for a phase II SBIR that will help translate these mechanisms of action studies into a commercial endeavor.
An SBIR grant is a competitively awarded, three-phase Federal Government program designed to stimulate technological innovation and provide opportunities for small business.
Velcura was the first corporation to grow human bone in tissue culture and has multiple patents on this process. The Michigan-based company uses its platform bone-growth technologies to discover and optimize drugs stimulating bone formation for use in treating diseases such as osteoporosis. Velcura’s first drug, VEL-0230, is scheduled to begin human clinical trials in late 2007.