The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) this week announced intentions to award three contracts in support of “Medical Countermeasures for Botulinum Neurotoxin Intoxication Focused on Therapeutics and Neuroregenerative Medicines”.
DTRA has established a multicenter program in which directed research projects are submitted, evaluated and selected to sponsor a network of collaboration amongst researchers. Under the multicenter collaboration, the following three proposals were selected for funding, to be administered in coordination with US Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense (USAMRICD) collaborators:
Montclair State University: MSU will contribute to the botulinum drug discovery effort by synthesizing small molecule drug candidates for treatment of botulinum toxin exposure and optimizing their pharmaceutical properties. First year of research cost is estimated at $428,737. Total five year proposal cost is $2,515,123
UMass Dartmouth: UMD will support the efforts at the USAMRICD by performing high throughput screening of natural product and small molecule libraries. First year of research cost is estimated at $275,044. Total five year proposal cost is $2,876,104
Ossianix University: Ossianix will provide an alternative to traditional inhibitors by developing small single chain shark antibodies (VNRS) as potential inhibitors of LC catalytic activity. Ossianix first year of research cost is estimated at $214,608. Total five year proposal cost is $1 Million.
This consortium type research is under the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between DTRA and USAMRICD.
Source: FBO.gov
