The $336,793 funding from the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), an institute of the National Institutes of Health, represents the initial installment, with the potential for a total award of $1.05m with additional Phase II funding.
Xeris chief scientific officer Steven Prestrelski said partnering with the NIDDK and Dr. Ken Ward in the development of a bi-hormonal pump will allow the company to develop hypoglycemia therapies.
"This is a significant unmet medical need and the SBIR funding will help advance our novel formulation and delivery systems for glucagon," Prestrelski added.
Phase 1 funding will support product development leveraging the formulation program for Xeris’ glucagon rescue pen (G-Pen) while the follow on Phase 2 funding will support IND-enabling preclinical studies and a foundational clinical trial.
The clinical trial will be conducted at the Oregon Health and Science University. The ability to test a chemically stable non-aqueous glucagon in a portable pump will enable the prevention of hypoglycemia, according to Xeris.