Project Grant R43DK107285

This National Science Foundation Project Grant of $100,000 supports the development of a self-assembling, protein-based contrast agent targeted to collagen type 1 for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease diagnosis and monitoring. Funded under the NSF Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships program (CFDA 47.084), the award to New York University will support research and innovation leading to a breakthrough biomedical imaging technology. Specifically, the university will develop a recombinant...

Zebra Biologics Inc. received a two-year, $926,124 National Institutes of Health National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases Project Grant to develop a long-acting relaxin agonist to treat liver fibrosis. Under this Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research grant program, Zebra Biologics will conduct pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic analyses of its proprietary relaxin-protein fusion molecule, H2-PIP, to establish dosing parameters for efficacy...

This Project Grant award from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), under the Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research program (CFDA 93.847), will investigate the use of the antibiotic rifaximin to reduce bacterial-derived inflammation and subsequent fibrosis in neonatal cholestasis, a liver disease in infants. The $215,700 award to Baylor College of Medicine, covering the period from August 1, 2025 to July 31, 2027, aims to explore a...

This Project Grant award of $389,754 from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) under the Cardiovascular Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.837) supports research to assess the therapeutic potential of a peptide derived from collagen XVIII for treating lung fibrosis associated with systemic sclerosis (scleroderma). The project aims to evaluate the anti-fibrotic effects of this peptide in a murine model of lung fibrosis, as well as identify the minimal effective dose, optimal...

This Project Grant award of $613,558 from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (CFDA 93.847 Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research) supports Genetobe Inc., a Michigan-based biotechnology company, in developing novel, selective sodium-dependent glucose cotransporter 1 (SGLT1) inhibitor compounds as an adjunctive therapy for cystic fibrosis (CF) associated metabolic disorders, including CF-associated liver disease and CF-related diabetes. The...

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) awarded a Project Grant totaling $299,295 to Fibrobiologics LLC to support the preclinical development of a novel therapeutic agent for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). The funding, provided through the Cardiovascular Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.837), will enable Fibrobiologics to determine the antifibrotic activity of the peptide M10 in primary lung fibroblasts from IPF patients and evaluate its efficacy in two...

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) awarded Novomedix LLC a $306,872 Project Grant under the Cardiovascular Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.837) to develop novel oral small molecule therapeutics for the treatment of progressive pulmonary fibrosis, including idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). The goal is to create a safer and more effective therapy compared to the currently approved drugs, which only slow disease progression and have significant side effects. Novomedix will...

This Project Grant award from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK, CFDA 93.847 Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research) provides $293,543 to Furanica, Inc. to develop a novel compound, FAL-113, for the treatment of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). The project aims to determine the mechanism of action, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacological efficacy of FAL-113 in preclinical NASH models. FAL-113 is designed to simultaneously modulate...

This Project Grant award from the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB), under the Discovery and Applied Research for Technological Innovations to Improve Human Health program (CFDA 93.286), provides $309,974 to support the development of a novel, low-cost device called LIVERscope. The LIVERscope device uses advanced magnetic resonance (MR) technology to noninvasively estimate quantitative biomarkers of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), including liver...

This Project Grant award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), under the Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research Federal Grant Program (CFDA 93.855), provides funding to Aqualung Therapeutics, Corp to support research focused on developing a novel monoclonal antibody therapy (ALT-100) that targets the ENAMPT-TLR4 signaling pathway to slow the progression of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). The $284,699 award will be used to optimize the dosing of ALT-100...