Cognosci Gets $330K MS Grant
Research Triangle Park pharmaceutical company Cognosci is celebrating its 10th anniversary with another winner in a string of good news.
The small biotech firm has received a $330,000 grant from the Accelerating Commercial Development program sponsored by Fast Forward (a division of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society) and EMD Serono, a division of Merck KGa.
Cognosci and a New Zealand firm won funding for the commercial development of their experimental MS drugs in the debut of the grant program, first announced last year. Two university research programs won grants in the non-profit category -- one in Portland, Oregon, and one in England.
In addition to the funding from Fast Forward, Cognosci's award also provides for a license option agreement with EMD Serono to pursue clinical development of a compound for the treatment of multiple sclerosis.
The North Carolina Biotechnology Center helped the Duke University spinout firm three years ago with a 143,317 Small Business Research Loan to help Cognosci pursue development of its experimental treatments for neurodegenerative disorders.
Cognosci has amassed more than $18 million in federal grants from the National Institutes of Health and Department of Defense.
"Political leaders and citizens of North Carolina need to understand the critical nature of North Carolina Biotechnology Center funding to help the North Carolina economy this way, and the value of its publicizing the work that we are doing," said Dale Christensen, Ph.D., Cognosci director and vice president of research and business development.
"This funding support we received from the Biotechnology Center and other state grant matching programs have been instrumental in getting us to where we are today," he added.
Christensen said Cognosci's funding from the Biotechnology Center, with its stringent vetting process, helps build upon its successes with federal funding to enable new sources of funds, such as the Fast Forward award.
He said he's pleased that Cognosci's funding successes enabled the firm to survive during the economic crisis and brought it to this point. Cognosci is preparing two investigational new drug applications, which it hopes to file with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration next year.