Bolder Receives $1.2m NIH Grant

Bolder BioTechnology (Bolder) has been awarded a $1.2m phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant, entitled ‘Long-Acting EPO Analog for Treating Anemia Associated with Chronic Kidney Disease,’ from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) of The National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Reportedly, the receipt of the entire grant award is contingent upon the achievement of certain research milestones.

The company said that the new grant award will be used to perform preclinical toxicology studies, required by the FDA for filing an Investigational New Drug application, to begin testing Bolder’s long-acting EPO analog in people.

Bolder claims that its long-acting EPO analog has the potential to be administered once every 2-8 weeks, significantly reducing healthcare costs by allowing patients to make fewer visits to clinics for their treatments and by reducing costs associated with patient treatments.

In addition, the increased potency and long duration of action of Bolder’s EPO analog may provide patients with superior therapeutic benefits over current EPO products.

George Cox, president and principal investigator, said: “We are delighted to receive continued support from NIDDK for our long-acting EPO analog program. Each additional grant awarded is further validation for our protein engineering technology.”