NIH awards $1.8 million to biotech firm for neurodegenerative disease research

The National Institute of General Medical Sciences, a division of the NIH, awarded $1.8 million to Integrated Micro-Chromatography Systems Inc. for phase 2 of its fast track Small Business Innovation Research grant, according to a release.

The NIH/NIGMS previously awarded the biotechnology company a 4-year, $2.56 million fast track Small Business Technology Transfer grant to expand its glycan toolkit and build an extensive array of sialoglycans that advance glycobiology-related research, which will provide scientists access to affordable, biosynthetic gangliosides for the development of therapeutics and diagnostics for a range of neurological diseases, including Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease.

The project is led by L. Andrew Lee, PhD, co-founder and chief scientific officer of Integrated Micro-Chromatography Systems Inc. He is joined by Xi Chen, PhD, professor of chemistry, and Hai Yu, PhD, project scientist, both at the University of California, Davis.

“Some experiments with glycolipids are cost-prohibitive, but scalable and facile access to glycolipids would make such experiments financially feasible,” Matthew Macauley, PhD, assistant professor of chemistry at the University of Alberta, said in the release.

Although not involved in the grant, Macauley's lab examines glycan-binding proteins and their effect on disease, such as Alzheimer's disease.