Arizona State University Biodesign Institute receives three new grants totaling $5.2 million to advance the fight against Parkinson’s disease

The Michael J. Fox Foundation has awarded three new grants totaling $5.2 million to Arizona State University (ASU) to explore three pioneering treatments for Parkinson’s disease (PD).

The awards will fund research led by Principal Investigator Dr. Jeffrey H. Kordower, each targeting underlying causes of the disease, which currently affects nearly 1 million people in the U.S. alone.

The new projects focus on two primary hallmarks of PD: the loss of dopamine-producing neurons in the brain and the accumulation within nerve cells of a misfolded form of the protein alpha-synuclein (α-syn).

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Preparing to deliver next-generation therapeutics

Mayo Clinic is among the academic medical centers on the cusp of biomanufacturing next-generation cell and gene therapies that offer hope of new cures for rare and complex diseases. Biomanufacturing this new era of biologic medicines is much different than manufacturing pharmaceuticals from complex molecules. It requires highly specialized lab infrastructure, new processes and new scientific know-how.

A couple of Mayo Clinic-led papers encompass some of the first studies to probe how hospital facilities are handling the growing demand for cell and gene therapies that are being tested in clinical trials.Continue reading

Aqualung Therapeutics Corp., an Immunotherapeutics Biotech Company, Closes a $2.5M Convertible Note Raise With a Committed Series A Lead Investor

TUCSON, AZ / ACCESSWIRE / January 18, 2022 / Aqualung Therapeutics, an early stage immunotherapeutics company with an anti-inflammatory therapeutic platform for life-threatening unchecked inflammation, has closed a $2.5M convertible note fund raise led by a $1.5M investment from JSR Life Sciences, LLC. The convertible note close brings the total Aqualung funding to date to >$17M, with $14 million derived from non-dilutive capital via NIH-funded grants and an earlier successfully executed $700,000 early seed round. In addition to investments in the convertible note, JSR Life Sciences has committed an additional $1.5M to the upcoming $10M Series A capital raise.Continue reading

Two Arizona Proposals Win Phase 1 Awards in the HHS Hypertension Innovator Award Competition.  

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office on Women’s Health announced the 20 winners of Phase I of the HHS Hypertension Innovator Award Competition.  The competition was created to identify effective, pre-existing programs that care for people with hypertension where the programs could be or are already applied to women with hypertension who are pregnant and/or postpartum. The goal of the competition is to demonstrate sustainability and the ability to replicate and/or expand programs that provide effective monitoring and follow-up of hypertension for women who are pregnant and/or postpartum.

Congratulations go to Emagine Solutions Technology and Valleywise (in collaboration with Creighton University).Continue reading