- Neurodon, a pharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of novel therapies for neurodegeneration, diabetes, and rare disease, announced today that it has been awarded approximately $2.9 million in continued funding under its Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Institute on Aging (NIA) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
This grant will be used for continued development and Investigational New Drug (IND)-enabling studies to support clinical translation of the company’s small molecule activators of the SERCA enzyme for Alzheimer’s disease. Neurodon’s novel molecules have demonstrated neuroprotective properties and the ability to improve learning and memory in several preclinical models of Alzheimer’s disease. To date, the company has been awarded over $5 million in funding from the NIA for their Alzheimer’s disease therapeutic development program.
“We are extremely grateful for the NIA’s continued support of our molecules targeting neuron loss in Alzheimer’s disease,” said Russell Dahl, Ph.D., Founder and CEO of Neurodon and the Principal Investigator of the grant. “This funding, which supports the completion of key studies required to submit an IND to the FDA and start clinical trials, is further validation that SERCA activation is a promising strategy for the development of disease-modifying agents for Alzheimer’s disease and has the potential to bring hope to patients and their loved ones.”
As in their previously funded Alzheimer’s disease research, Neurodon will team up with scientists in the Purdue Animal Behavioral Core (PBAC) at the Purdue Institute for Integrative Neuroscience. Purdue University is a top public research institution with world-class research facilities and faculty.
“All of us at the Purdue Institute for Integrative Neuroscience are grateful to have this opportunity to partner with Neurodon. Alzheimer’s disease is one of our institute’s strategic initiatives and we are glad to be a part of these efforts. We would like to thank the NIA for their tremendous support and to Neurodon for inviting us to be part of the team,” stated Wendy Koss, Ph.D., Director of the PBAC and Assistant Research Professor at Purdue University.
“The NIA has been very supportive of our Alzheimer’s disease research, providing not only critical funding but also comprehensive resources for small business development,” added Colleen Mauger, R.N., Vice President of Operations at Neurodon. “This funding, in addition to investments we have recently received for other pipeline programs, further validates our platform and positions Neurodon well to be able to submit at least 2 IND applications to the FDA in the next 12-24 months.”
