Project Grant R42AR087918
- The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases awarded Ventura Life Sciences, LLC $305,443 on September 1, 2026, under the Arthritis, Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.846) to develop novel AAV capsids for skeletal muscle gene therapy. The recipient will employ directed evolution methods, high-throughput screening, and immune assays to engineer and validate adeno-associated virus (AAV) capsid variants with improved transduction capability...
- Kinea Bio Inc. received a $306,859 Project Grant Award from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) under the Arthritis, Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.846), effective September 15, 2025, with completion targeted for August 31, 2026. The award funds development of a scalable, non-viral gene delivery therapeutic platform using cell-derived nanovesicles to treat myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1), the most common adult-onset...
- The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases awarded Northeastern University $652,195 on June 17, 2026, under the Arthritis, Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.846) to develop and test surface-modified, cartilage-targeting exosomes as non-viral gene delivery vehicles for osteoarthritis treatment. The project engineers charge-reversed cationic exosomes derived from mesenchymal stem cells, anchored with arginine-rich peptide motifs, to...
- The National Institute of General Medical Sciences awarded Avagene Therapeutics Inc. $220,958 on September 15, 2026, under the Biomedical Research and Research Training program (CFDA 93.859) to advance an automated manufacturing platform for adeno-associated virus (AAV) gene therapy production. Avagene will develop and demonstrate technical feasibility of Bodhi, a compact, closed incubator platform that integrates AI-powered brightfield and fluorescence microscopy, programmable...
- The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) awarded The Leland Stanford Junior University $204,682 on September 10, 2025, under the Arthritis, Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.846) to characterize the roles of RNA-binding protein assemblies in epidermal homeostasis. The recipient will develop and apply two new crosslinking immunoprecipitation-based methods—IRCLIP-RNP and RE-CLIP—to study how RNA-binding proteins organize and...
- The National Institute of General Medical Sciences awarded the University of Massachusetts Medical School $1,675,000 on May 1, 2026, under the Biomedical Research and Research Training program (CFDA 93.859) to interrogate the roles of truncated and mutated inverted terminal repeat (ITR) sequences in adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors and their effects on transgene stability through episome formation and host cell genome integration. The project, designated R01GM155648, addresses a critical gap...
- The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases awarded $151,040 to The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center on April 15, 2026, under the Arthritis, Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.846) to develop muscle-optimized non-viral gene editors for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The project addresses limitations in lipid nanoparticle (LNP) delivery of CRISPR gene editing to skeletal muscle by designing gene editors that improve myonuclear...
- The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the Department of Health and Human Services, awarded $306,810 to Capture Bioscience Inc. on July 22, 2026, under the Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.855) for development and validation of a high-throughput autoimmune antibody detection platform. Capture Bioscience will adapt its Beads by Time-of-Flight (B-TOF) technology to create a comprehensive autoimmunity panel capable of simultaneously...
- The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases awarded Virginia Commonwealth University $836,229 on September 18, 2025, under the Arthritis, Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.846) to develop validated molecular and imaging biomarkers for LGMD Type R1, a severe genetic muscle disease caused by calpain 3 gene mutation. The award funds longitudinal assessment of molecular and imaging biomarkers as an ancillary project leveraging an existing...
- The National Institutes of Health National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases awarded the University of Rochester $493,971 on September 1, 2026, under the Arthritis, Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.846) to define the epitenon cell–gamma delta T cell axis in fibrotic tendon healing. The project addresses peritendinous adhesions that form between healing tendons and surrounding tissues, the leading cause of impaired recovery following tendon...
The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases awarded Vecgen, Inc. $333,689 on September 1, 2026, under the Arthritis, Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.846) to develop and validate a diagnostic tool predicting immune responses to adeno-associated virus (AAV) gene therapies. Vecgen will clone and produce a comprehensive set of AAV vectors carrying FDA-approved gene therapy sequences and establish standardized immunogenicity benchmarks using healthy donor peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). The work qualifies Vecgen's PBMC-based in vitro diagnostic (IVD), which captures cytokine responses predictive of post-treatment inflammatory biomarkers, and correlates assay results with donor-specific measures to support regulatory engagement. The scope expands to include anti-AAV5 and anti-AAVRH74 antibody generation, multi-center PBMC testing from 100 prospective AAV recipients, and generation of a premarket approval (PMA)-enabling dataset. Vecgen will also apply the IVD to support rational optimization of the GNE transgene cassette for GNE myopathy, a progressive adult-onset neuromuscular disorder caused by recessive GNE mutations for which no approved therapies currently exist. The award is classified as a Project Grant with a period of performance from September 1, 2026, through August 31, 2027. Work is performed in Palo Alto, California.
Mod # | Description | ReasonForModification | Federal Obligation | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Not listed | $333.7k | 8/27/26 |