BioAxone BioSciences Awarded $1.1 Million Phase 2 SBIR Funding for Continued Development of sd-rxRNA Drug Candidate for the T...
June 28 2018 - 8:00AM
Business Wire
Award based on accomplishment of 1-year
milestones; Collaborator RXi Pharmaceuticals to receive a portion
of the allotted funding
BioAxone BioSciences, Inc. announced today that, as part of a
collaborative effort with RXi Pharmaceuticals Corporation (NASDAQ:
RXII), it is the recipient of a grant award from the National
Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), part of the
agency’s SBIR Phase II funding program. This two-year grant
provides funding for further development of BioAxone’s preclinical
candidate BA-434, a novel sd-rxRNA® compound that targets PTEN for
the treatment of spinal cord injury (SCI).
Unlike other SCI drugs in clinical development that target
growth inhibition in the central nervous system (CNS), BA-434
targets intrinsic barriers to axon regeneration. After neurotrauma,
neurons in the central nervous system do not spontaneously
regenerate their injured axons. Intrinsic barriers to regeneration
refer to the diminished ability of adult CNS neurons to regenerate.
PTEN is known to be an intrinsic barrier to regeneration and BA-434
uses RXi’s self-delivering RNA interference therapeutic platform to
block PTEN expression.
“This award reinforces the need for new therapeutics to address
a critical unmet need for patients with spinal cord injuries,” said
Lisa McKerracher, PhD, CEO, BioAxone BioSciences. “We appreciate
NINDS’ recognition of the importance of our technology and the
progress we have made to date.”
In September 2017, BioAxone was awarded a total of $1,794,895 to
fund the collaborative project over 24 months. To date the project
has received $735,822 and today the remaining $1,059,073 was
awarded based on accomplishing drug development milestones. For
their contribution, RXi received $128,838 in the first year and is
to receive an additional $118,800.
Under this grant, entitled “Development of self-delivering RNAi
targeted to PTEN for treatment of spinal cord injury,” BA-434 will
be further developed to silence PTEN, a protein known to be an
intrinsic barrier to regeneration, thereby supporting regeneration
in the adult central nervous system.
“We are very pleased with the advancements that BioAxone has
achieved using our proprietary therapeutic platform in the
development of potential therapeutics for spinal cord injuries,”
said Dr. Karen Bulock, Vice President of Research at RXi
Pharmaceuticals. She further added, “Our team looks forward to
continued collaboration with BioAxone in this important research
supporting the development of BioAxone’s preclinical candidate
BA-434, a novel sd-rxRNA compound for the treatment of spinal cord
injury.”
The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program was
created by the U.S. Congress to strengthen the role of small,
innovative companies in federally supported research and
development. It is one of the largest sources of early-stage
technology financing in the U.S. The National Institute of
Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) is the nation's leading
funder of research on the brain and nervous system and a component
of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Research reported in
this publication was supported by the NINDS of the NIH under Award
Number R44NS084489. The content is solely the responsibility of the
authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of
the National Institutes of Health.
About BioAxone BioSciencesBioAxone BioSciences is a
clinical-stage biotechnology company based in Cambridge, MA, and is
developing innovative drugs to restore neurological function for
patients with spinal cord injuries and neurovascular disorders. The
company also has preclinical programs in restoring epithelial
barriers in gastrointestinal disease and in glaucoma. BioAxone is
led by a team of scientists renowned for their work on axon
regeneration, diseases involving Rho/ROCK signaling and cell
barrier function. For more information,
visit http://www.bioaxonebio.com and follow the company on
Twitter at @BioAxone.
About RXi PharmaceuticalsRXi Pharmaceuticals
Corporation (NASDAQ: RXII) is a biotechnology company
developing the next generation of immuno-oncology therapeutics
based on its self-delivering RNAi (sd-rxRNA®) therapeutic platform.
The Company's discovery and research efforts are focused on
developing sd-rxRNA therapeutic compounds to be used with an
Adoptive Cell Transfer (ACT) approach. This process uses immune
cells, such as T-lymphocytes that are isolated from the patient or
retrieved from allogeneic immune cell banks, and then expanded and
in some cases processed to express tumor-binding receptors. Our
approach introduces a new and important step
in ex-vivo processing of the immune cells where sd-rxRNA
is used to eliminate the expression of immunosuppressive receptors
or proteins from the therapeutic immune cells, making them less
sensitive to tumor resistance mechanisms and thus improving their
ability to destroy the tumor cells. Essentially, we aim to maximize
the power of our sd-rxRNA therapeutic compounds by weaponizing
therapeutic immune effector cells to attack cancer and ultimately
provide patients battling terminal cancers with a powerful new
treatment option that goes beyond current treatment modalities. For
additional information, visit the Company's
website, www.rxipharma.com and follow the company on Twitter
at @RXiPharma
Forward-Looking StatementsThis press release contains
forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements include,
but are not limited to, statements about: our expectation regarding
closing of the offering, our ability to successfully develop
RXI-109, Samcyprone™, RXI-762, RXI-804 and our other product
candidates (collectively "our product candidates"); the future
success of our clinical trials with our product candidates; the
timing for the commencement and completion of clinical trials; our
ability to enter into strategic partnerships and the future success
of these strategic partnerships; and our ability to deploy our
sd-rxRNA® technology through partnerships, as well as the prospects
of these partnerships to provide positive returns. Forward-looking
statements about expectations and development plans of RXi's
product candidates and partnerships involve significant risks and
uncertainties, including the following: risks that we may not be
able to successfully develop and commercialize our product
candidates; risks that product development and clinical studies may
be delayed, not proceed as planned and/or be subject to significant
cost over-runs; risks related to the development and
commercialization of products by competitors; risks related to our
ability to control the timing and terms of collaborations with
third parties; and risks that other companies or organizations may
assert patent rights preventing us from developing or
commercializing our product candidates. Additional risks are
detailed in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and
subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q under the caption "Risk
Factors." Readers are urged to review these risk factors and to not
act in reliance on any forward-looking statements, as actual
results may differ from those contemplated by our forward-looking
statements. RXi does not undertake to update forward-looking
statements to reflect a change in its views, events or
circumstances that occur after the date of this release.
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BioAxone BioSciences, Inc.LaVoieHealthScienceBeth Kurth,
617-374-8800 x106orRXi Pharmaceuticals CorporationTamara McGrillen,
508-929-3646
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