The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC) and six international partner agencies today announced the second round of grants through the MLSC’s International Collaborative Industry Program (ICIP). Four new projects have been awarded funding through the current round of the program.
Kew Group (Located in Cambridge, MA) in partnership with DiaTech Oncology in Quebec, Canada
This collaboration is focused on the development of innovative strategies to provide both functional (in vitro chemosensitivity) and genomic (DNA sequence-based) information to cancer patients and their oncologists, so that optimal combination therapeutic decisions can be made in a timely fashion. This project creates synergies in cancer diagnostics that capitalize on the strengths of each individual company.
Lantern Pharma (Located in Cambridge, MA) in partnership with Oncology Venture in Medicon Valley, Denmark.
These companies will conduct an early clinical trial using Irofluven (developed by Lantern Pharma) to treat prostate cancer, in selected patients based on genetic analysis of tumor samples (conducted by Oncology Venture), which identifies the patients most likely to respond to Irofluven. The outcome may lead to improved treatment for cancer patients, who otherwise have limited treatment options.
Q-State Biosciences (Located in Cambridge, MA) in partnership with Anagenesis Biotechnologies in Alsace, France
This collaboration will involve development of a platform to screen for drugs to treat Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), one of the most prevalent inherited diseases in young males. The companies will use a new detection system developed by Q-State to modify novel cells derived from Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy muscle, developed by Anagenesis. The project will build on Anagenesis’ expertise in induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived skeletal muscle cells and DMD models, and on Q-State Biosciences’ all-optical, non-invasive recordings of electrophysiological parameters.
Triton Systems Inc. (Located in Chelmsford, MA) in partnership with Grey Innovation in Victoria, Australia
For this collaboration, the team will combine Grey Innovation’s non-invasive wrist-worn hypoglycemia detection device and Triton’s mobile disease management solution to develop an m-Health system for monitoring and managing otherwise potentially fatal hypoglycemic events in Type-1/Type-2 diabetes. The system will ensure personal health privacy and improve patient compliance and outcomes.