MilliporeSigma Awards Grants to Three US Biotechs

MilliporeSigma (Burlington, Massachusetts, USA) has announced the winners of its Advance Biotech Grant programme in North America. The grant is given to small- and mid-size biotechnology companies that need funding and expertise to get their therapies to market. Applicants were asked to describe their projects, the medical needs they solve, and process development challenges they face to be considered for the grant. In support of the growing biotech ecosystem, grant recipients receive between $40,000 and $100,000 in MilliporeSigma products and process development support.

“With more than 60 percent of drugs in the pipeline today being developed by biotechs, we are committed to supporting these start‑ups in developing ground-breaking therapeutics,” said Udit Batra, CEO, MilliporeSigma. “Our global grant programme provides free access to our process development expertise, products, and services to help accelerate molecule-to-market efforts.”

The three winners are: RAFT Pharmaceuticals (San Diego, California), for its approach to treat chronic pain using a biologic to selectively inhibit neuroinflammation without affecting normal motor or sensory function; Rubicon Biotechnology (Anaheim, California), for developing a therapeutic protein, Fv-Hsp72, designed to protect and salvage cells damaged from an acute event, such as traumatic brain injury; and TechnoVax Inc (Elmsford, New York), for developing a virus-like particle platform that facilitates the development and production of a range of vaccines targeting the prevention of respiratory diseases, haemorrhagic fevers, immunodeficiency, and cancers.

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