to-BBB awarded EUR 1.25 million European FP7 funding to develop treatments for inherited retinal diseases
to-BBB has been awarded funding of EUR 1.25 million by the European Commission’s 7th Framework Programme as part of a EUR 5 million consortium project for the preclinical development of novel treatments for inherited retinal degenerative diseases. The consortium additionally consists of Coordinator University of Tübingen (Germany), SME Biolog (Germany), University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (Italy) and Lund University (Sweden).
The consortium aims to develop drugs and drug delivery systems for the treatment of inherited photoreceptor degeneration up to the clinical stage. These orphan diseases often display a dysregulated cGMP metabolism or signaling, which could be counteracted by cyclic nucleotide analogues. The German Small Medium Enterprise (SME) Biolog is specialized in the development of cyclic nucleotide based drugs, and to-BBB will focus on the targeted delivery of these compounds across the blood-retinal barrier, a barrier with similar characteristics as the blood-brain barrier. The three research institutes from Germany, Italy and Sweden have a long-standing record of studying photoreceptor degenerative mechanisms and testing and evaluating of drug treatment effects.
The project has started on September 1st, with a duration of 3 years ending August 31st, 2015. The consortium will have its kick-off meeting later this week to officially launch the project and start its activities.
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