iCell Gene Therapeutics Granted Orphan Drug Designation

iCell Gene Therapeutics, a CFB client company, has announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Orphan Drug Designation for its chimeric antigen receptor engineered T-cells directed against the target protein CD4 (CD4CAR) for the treatment of peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL). The Orphan Drug Designation program provides orphan status, and associated development incentives, to drugs and biologics intended for the safe and effective treatment, diagnosis or prevention of rare diseases or disorders that affect fewer than 200,000 people in the U.S. Read more about the designation and company here.

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Codagenix Receives Phase I SBIR Grant for Swine Influenza Virus Vaccine

Codagenix, a CFB client company, has announced that it has been awarded a $99,710 Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to commence the development of an influenza vaccine for swine. Codagenix will apply its next-generation platform technology to construct a vaccine against influenza viruses that infect swine, which, according to the USDA’s 2014 Census of Agriculture is a $22.5 billion industry here in the United States. Read more here.

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Ortek Therapeutics Announces New Patent for Microbiome Technology

Rosyln Heights, NY-based Ortek Therapeutics announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has awarded a patent for new methods to use new compositions to prevent or treat drug-resistant bacteria and suppress body odor.

U.S. Patent 9,370,476, was issued to The Research Foundation of State University of New York, an Ortek licensing partner, and is directed to topical application of a zinc and arginine-based composition. Ortek holds exclusive international licensing rights to this patent, which was developed at Stony Brook University. Ortek has a long-standing relationship with Israel Kleinberg DDS, PhD, DSc, who led the development of this new technology and is the Director of the Division of Translational Oral Biology at Stony Brook University.

Traverse Biosciences to collaborate with SUNY Upstate Medical University

Traverse Biosciences has announced a collaboration with SUNY Updated Medical University on a $164,689 Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program (PRMRP) Discovery Award from the U.S. Department of Defense. The research will be led by Gary Nieman, Associate Professor and Senior Research Scientist in the Department of Surgery and will evaluate the effectiveness of the company’s lead drug candidate, TRB-N0224, to treat acute lung injury, including acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Read more here.

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