FDA Offers 21 Grants for Rare Disease Development

Oct. 18, 2016

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that it has awarded 21 new clinical trial research grants totaling more than $23 million over the next four years to boost the development of products for patients with rare diseases. These new grants were awarded to principal investigators from academia and industry with research spanning domestic and international clinical sites, according to a press release.

“We are proud of our 30-year track record of fostering and encouraging the development of safe and effective therapies for rare diseases through our clinical trials grant program,” said Gayatri R. Rao, M.D., J.D., director of FDA’s Office of Orphan Product Development, within the Office of Special Medical Programs. “The grants awarded this year will support much-needed research in 21 different rare diseases, many of which have little, or no, available treatment options.”

The FDA awards the grants through the Orphan Products Clinical Trials Grants Program to encourage clinical development of drugs, biologics, medical devices, or medical foods for use in rare diseases. The grants are intended for clinical studies evaluating the safety and effectiveness of products that could either result in, or substantially contribute to, the FDA approval of products.

A total of 68 grant applications were received for this fiscal year, with a funding rate of 31 percent (21/68). The grant recipients for fiscal year 2016 include:

Drugs/Biologics:

1) Chemigen, LLC (Zionsville, Indiana), Yansheng Du, Phase 1 Study of CC100 for the Treatment of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis — about $243,000 for one year

2) Chemocentryx, Inc. (Mountain View, California), Petrus Bekker, Phase 2 Study of CCX168 for the Treatment of Anti-Neutrophil Cytoplasmic Auto-Antibodies Associated Vasculitis — $500,000 for one year

3) Columbia University Health Sciences (New York, New York), Elizabeth Shane, Phase 2B Study of Denosumab to Prevent Bone Loss in Idiopathic Osteoporosis in Premenopausal Women Treated with Terripatide — about $1.6 million over four years

4) DNATRIX, Inc. (Houston, Texas), Frank Tufaro, Phase 2 Study of DNX-2401 for the Treatment of Glioblastoma — $2 million over four years

5) Elorac, Inc. (Vernon Hills, Illinois), Scott Phillips, Phase 3 Study of Naloxone Lotion for the Treatment of Pruritus in Mycosis Fungoides — about $2 million over four years

6)Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, Maryland), Pamela Zeitlin, Phase 1/2 Study of Glycerol Phenylbutyrate for the Treatment of Cystic Fibrosis — $750,000 over three years

7) Oncoceutics, Inc. (Hummelstown, Pennsylvania), Wolfgang Oster, Phase 1/2 Study of ONC201 for the Treatment of Multiple Myeloma — about $1.7 million over four years

8) Oregon Health and Science University (Portland, Oregon), Kevin Winthrop, Phase 2 Study of Clofazimine for the Treatment of Pulmonary Mycobacterium Avium Disease — about $1.8 million over four years

9) Santhera Pharmaceuticals (Liestal, Switzerland), Thomas Meier, Phase 1 Study of Omigapil for the Treatment of Congenital Muscular Dystrophy — $246,000 for one year

10) Scioderm, Inc. (Durham, North Carolina), Jay Barth, Phase 3 Study of SD101 for the Treatment of Epidermolysis Bullosa — $500,000 for one year

11) Seattle Children's Research Institute (Seattle, Washington), Leslie Kean, Phase 2 Study of Abatacept Combined with Calcineurin Inhibition and Methotrexate for Prophylaxis of Graft Vs Host Disease — $99,630 for one year

12) Sloan-Kettering Institute Cancer Research (New York, New York), Katharine Hsu, Phase 1 Study of Humanized 3F8 MoAb and NK cells for the Treatment of Neuroblastoma — about $750,000 over three years

13) Taimed Biologics USA Corp (Irvine, California), Stanley Lewis, Phase 3 Study of Ibalizumab for the Treatment of Patients with Multidrug Resistant HIV — $500,000 for one year

14) University of Alabama (Birmingham, Alabama), Gregory Friedman, Phase 1 Study of HSV G207 & Radiation for the Treatment of Pediatric Brain Tumors — about $750,000 over three years

15) University of California, San Diego (La Jolla, California), Donald Durden, Phase 1 Study of PI-3 Kinase/BRD4 Inhibitor SF1126 for the Treatment of Hepatocellular Carcinoma — $750,000 over three years

16) University of Florida (Gainesville, Florida), Peter Stacpoole, Phase 3 Study of Dichloroacetate for the Treatment of Pyruvate Dehyrugenase Complex Deficiency — about $2 million over four years

17) University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, Michigan), Kathleen Stringer, Phase 2 Study of Inhaled Activase for the Treatment of Acute Plastic Bronchitis — $2 million over four years

18) University of North Carolina Chapel Hill (Chapel Hill, North Carolina), Matthew Laughon, Phase 2 Study of Furosemide for the Prevention of Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia in Premature Infants — about $1.4 million over four years

19) Vanderbilt University Medical Center (Nashville, Tennessee), Cyndya Shibao, Phase 2 Study of Atomoxetine for the Treatment of Multiple System Atrophy — about $1.6 million over four years

20) Wilson Wolf Manufacturing Corporation (New Brighton, Minnesota), Sunitha Kakarla, Phase 1 Study of Viralym-A for the Treatment of Adenovirus Disease — about $750,000 over three years

Medical Devices:
21) Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland, Ohio), Kevin Kilgore, Phase 2 Study of a Networked Neuroprosthesis for Grasp, Reach, and Trunk Function in Cervical Spinal Cord Injury — about $2 million over four years.