Funding will support automation and large-scale fabrication of nanomatrix vascular sheet with atherosclerosis (VSA) functional assay plus its evaluation for use in drug efficacy and safety research
Three-layer nanomatrix VSA innovation described in Biomaterials
BIRMINGHAM, Ala., Oct. 10, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Endomimetics, the developer of Bionanomatrix™, a peptide-based biomaterial to promote healing and improve outcomes following medical device implantation and other procedures, today announced the awarding of a $300 thousand Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant to support automation and evaluation of a novel 3D in vitro functional assay for use in atherosclerosis drug discovery and development. The underlying innovation is a three-layer nanomatrix vascular sheet with atherosclerosis (VSA) that was described in Biomaterials (2024 Mar:305:122450. doi: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2023.122450. Epub 2023 Dec 27).
“Current In vitro atherosclerosis drug discovery models have significant limitations, such as the lack of a three-layer vascular architecture and limited atherosclerotic features,” said Ho-Wook Jun, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of Endomimetics, Professor in the University of Alabama (UAB) Department of Biomedical Engineering and corresponding author of the Biomaterials paper. “Moreover, no scalable, high through-put 3D atherosclerosis assay is available for the evaluation of potential therapeutics. Availability of an automated approach for rapid and large-scale fabrication of a VSA assay should provide drug developers a highly reproducible functional assay to test their drug candidates in development to treat atherosclerosis.”
The Phase I SBIR grant provides funding to support further advancement of the VSA technology by developing a novel automated approach for rapid and large-scale fabrication of VSA using a 3D printer and 96-well plate with high reproducibility for manufacturing VSA-based functional assays for evaluation of drug efficacy. In addition, the assay will be evaluated by assessing how it assesses for efficacy and cytotoxicity of drugs designed to treat atherosclerosis.
“Development of this drug candidate evaluation assay leverages our expertise in bionanomaterials,” said Joseph Garner, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Endomimetics. “The SBIR grant enables us to fully fund this development work so that no resources are diverted from development of applications for our core Bionanomatrix™ platform. If this research is successful, we plan on working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to validate the assay and partner with biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies to speed up and streamline the atherosclerosis drug development process.
About Endomimetics:
Endomimetics is a privately held Company founded to develop applications for its proprietary Bionanomatrix™ technology. The Bionanomatrix™, invented by bioengineering scientists and physicians at the University of Alabama Birmingham (UAB), is a peptide-based coating that can be engineered to perform a variety of functions, which may have broad application in medical device implantation and other surgical procedures. Endomimetics’ plans to develop different applications through the preclinical stage and then partner with medical device companies whose technology could benefit from Bionanomatrix™. The Company’s lead indication is the AVF GEL, which is designed to improve the maturation of arteriovenous fistulas. Other indications include coatings on stents and angioplasty balloons, dental direct pulp capping (DPC) and flow diverters. Additional information may be found on the Company’s website https://endomimetics.com/.
About the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program
The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, created in 1982 through the Small Business Innovation Development Act and reauthorized in 2011, is one of the largest public–private partnerships in the United States. The SBIR program encourages U.S. small businesses with fewer than 500 employees to provide quality research and to develop new processes, products and technologies in support of the missions of the U.S. government. Administered by DHS S&T, the DHS SBIR Program, supports a full spectrum of SBIR initiatives serving all components.
Contact Details:
Company Contact:
Endomimetics
Dr. Joseph Garner
Chief Executive Officer
jng@endomimetics.com
Investor Contacts:
Eric Ando / Cameron Radinovic
Burns McClellan
eando@burnsmc.com / cradinovic@burnsmc.com
Media Contact:
Robert Flamm, Ph.D.
Burns McClellan
rflamm@burnsmc.com
