InDex Pharmaceuticals receives grant from Sweden´s innovation agency Vinnova for pre-clinical development of DIMS compounds in inflammation
May 23, 2016 – InDex Pharmaceuticals AB today announced it has been granted 1.825 million SEK from Sweden´s innovation agency Vinnova to develop new, more effective and safer treatments for inflammatory diseases. Of 535 applications and 84 funded projects, InDex received one of the largest grants.
The grant is for an R&D project to evaluate selected compounds from the Company’s technology platform in inflammatory disease models. InDex has a large portfolio of proprietary oligonucleotides called DNA-based ImmunoModulatory Sequences (DIMS) that function as immunomodulatory agents by binding to Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9). InDex Pharmaceutical’s lead drug candidate cobitolimod is a TLR9 agonist in late-stage clinical development for moderate to severe active ulcerative colitis, a debilitating, chronic inflammation of the large intestine. InDex aims to broaden the development pipeline and, with the grant from Vinnova, will advance additional DIMS compounds further in preclinical development for other inflammatory indications.
“We are very pleased about the support from Vinnova and this validation of our technology,” said Peter Zerhouni, CEO of InDex Pharmaceuticals. “The grant will help us expanding our development pipeline, leveraging the experience and expertise gained from the development of our lead asset cobitolimod.”
The project is planned to start in autumn 2016 and has a duration of one year. The grant was awarded in intense competition and was one of 84 out of 535 applications that received funding. Of note, InDex received one of the four largest grants.
Vinnova is Sweden’s innovation agency with the mission to promote sustainable growth by funding needs-driven research and stimulating collaborations between companies, universities, research institutes and the public sector. Vinnova is also the national contact agency for the EU framework programme for research and innovation. The programmes and calls target actors in society who are important for Sweden’s innovativeness such as research-focused companies, universities, research institutes and public sector organisations.
Contact InDex Pharmaceuticals:
Peter Zerhouni, CEO
Tel: +46 8 508 847 35