The remarkable growth of Radnor-based biotech company PolyMedix is poised to continue deep into 2009. It announced this week it received a $6.6 million grant, along with the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop new antibiotics.
The grant is the company’s 10th outside supported funding, in the form of a grant or research contract, and third in the last 45 days. It will support the development of antimicrobial defensin-mimetic compounds for biodefense and emerging food-borne infectious diseases.
“This award could enable the development of the next generations of novel antibiotics for drug resistant bacteria and emerging infections,” says Nicholas Landekic, president and CEO of PolyMedix. He founded the company in 2002 with Dr. William DeGrado of the University of Pennsylvania.
Last month, PolyMedix announced a $1.6 million contract it received from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency to develop new antibiotic compounds to combat biowarfare pathogens. That contract supported four full-time scientists. The new grant from NIH will support three more who will attempt to develop a clinical lead candidate for treating food-borne illnesses.
The sponsoring agency for the grant with UMass-Amherst is Cooperative Research Partnerships for Biodefense and Emerging Infection Disease of the NIH. The grant provides PolyMedix and UMass-Amherst nearly $1 million for one year, of which PolyMedix expects to reeive about $265,000. The grant recommends funding for an additional four years, subject to availability of funds and satisfactory performance. PolyMedix could receive up to $3.5 million over the five-year period.
Source: Nicholas Landekic, PolyMedix
Writer: Joe Petrucci