September 2022: Funding
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Ceria Therapeutics, Inc. Awarded a $300,000 SBIR Grant to Advance Development of a Novel Treatment of Non-Healing Diabetic Foot Ulcers.
The award will go towards the development of CTX-001 in preparation for clinical studies.
Aurora, CO – September 19, 2022 – Ceria Therapeutics, Inc.(Ceria), a Colorado-based biotech startup focusing on the development of novel therapeutics to address several inflammatory diseases, today announced the company has received a second Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This award is directed to development of CTX-001 for the treatment of non-healing diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs).
Ceria’s pipeline of therapeutic products addresses inflammatory conditions at the root cause with bifunctional drug products that block the inflammatory signaling pathway and reduce oxidative stress.
DFUs are very common and are the cause of ~40% of hospital admissions for diabetic patients and are the leading cause of non-traumatic amputation. With contemporary treatment options being limited, they are a tremendous burden on the healthcare system.
This grant was awarded as a result of collaborative research between Ceria and Colorado University, Anscutz Medical Campus. David Jackson PhD, chief executive officer of Ceria, will serve as the principal investigator (PI). He is joined by Carlos Zgheib PhD, chief scientific officer of Ceria and co-PI of the program, and Ken Liechty MD, chief medical officer of Ceria and inventor of the company’s core technology. This team has extensive experience with design and management of directed research and development programs. Dr. Liechty and Dr. Zgheib are well published in this field and Dr. Jackson has led multiple programs for regulated products for patients.
“This SBIR award demonstrates the quality of our proposal, the CTX-001 program and the company’s pipeline. The core technology represented in our pipeline has the potential to improve the lives of millions of patients,” said Dr. David Jackson, CEO of Ceria. “CTX-001 will be a first-in-class therapeutic option that addresses the underlying cause of dysregulated inflammation. This product represents relief for the more than 5 million American diabetic patients that develop DFUs each year.”
The award will support development of CTX-001 and represents further validation of the core technology. The program is funded through the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases of the NIH under Award Number 1R43DK133040-01A1.
The goal of the program is to prepare CTX-001 for submission of an Investigational New Drug (IND) to the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) for advancement of clinical studies of the drug. The work will support drug product manufacturing and analyses, as well as confirmatory efficacy and GLP IND-enabling studies.
“Ceria is dedicated to bringing novel, game-changing products to market.” Added Ken Liechty, MD, FACS, FAAP, Founder and CMO of Ceria. “The company is looking forward to continuing our fruitful collaboration with Colorado University Anschutz Medical Campus.”
About Ceria Therapeutics, Inc.
Ceria Therapeutics, Inc., headquartered in Aurora, Colorado, is a preclinical stage biotech company dedicated to improving the lives of patients suffering from unregulated inflammatory conditions. Founded in 2019, the company, along with collaborators and partners, is focused on developing and commercializing products derived from the core technology platform invented by Dr. Ken Liechty.
Ceria’s mission is to deliver products that attack these diseases at the root cause to bring substantial benefit to patients, healthcare providers and other stakeholders.
Ceria Therapeutics, Inc.
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