DesignMedix, a Portland, Oregon-based drug development company targeting infectious disease, has received a $350,000 phase I grant award from the NIH SBIR/STTR program to support development of novel antimicrobial compounds.
“In the past, we’ve had tremendous success leveraging this form of non-dilutive funding to bring early-stage technologies out of the academic setting and into commercial development. Funding of this nature fills an important gap to advance early technologies for companies like DesignMedix, and we appreciate the NIH’s continued support,” said Sandra Shotwell, Ph.D., CEO of DesignMedix.
David Peyton, Ph.D., DesignMedix CSO and Professor of Chemistry at Portland State University, is the lead investigator for the grant project, which will be conducted in collaboration with Lars Eckmann, M.D., Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine. The grant targets development of a more potent drug for Trichomonas vaginalis, the most common nonviral sexually transmitted disease, with 200 million cases worldwide each year. As with its other pipeline programs, DesignMedix will focus on overcoming drug resistance that has made other drugs less effective in treating this serious disease.
“Emerging resistance to current drugs for T. vaginalis is a concern. Infection can have significant implications for women’s health, such as increased preterm birth rates, cervical cancer, and infertility. Most troubling of all, infection appears to increase susceptibility to HIV infection,” said Shotwell.
The company expects that the new program will have a broad impact on other infections, significantly expanding the potential of these novel drug candidates in the clinic.
About DesignMedix, Inc.
DesignMedix, Inc. was founded in 2008 to develop small molecule drugs to overcome drug resistance in treating infectious diseases. The company’s lead drug candidate is being prepared for clinical trials for malaria. For more information please visit: http://www.designmedix.com.