Veru Inc.'s Oncology Drug Research Program Partner, The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Awarded Two New Federal Grants
Research grants from U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and National Cancer Institute's Research Project Grant (NCI R01) awarded to UTHSC to study new types of targeting agents for multiple cancer indications with significant unmet need
Aggregate funding for UTHSC exceeds $10M for these oncology drug research programs
Veru has rights to further develop and commercialize potential oncology agents generated from this research
MIAMI, FL, June 21, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC), oncology drug discovery research partner to Veru Inc. (NASDAQ: VERU), a late clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel medicines for the treatment of breast cancer and for SARS-CoV-2 and other viral ARDS-related diseases, has secured two additional grants to develop oncology therapeutics for indications of high unmet need. UTHSC was awarded $924,000 from the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and $3,074,470 from the National Cancer Institute's Research Project Grant (NCI R01). These two new grants awarded to UTHSC bring the university's aggregate oncology funding related to this project to over $10 million.
Through the Company's collaboration with UTHSC, leveraging its existing sponsored research agreement and its private-public partnership and other arrangements with UTHSC, Veru holds the opportunity to continue to develop and to potentially commercialize oncology agents developed by this research which include:
-- Targeting drugs, including conjugated drugs for metastatic prostate cancer and for drug-resistant hormone receptor positive HER2- metastatic breast cancer as well as brain and bone metastases from breast cancer -- Novel targeting drugs for drug resistant advanced ovarian cancer
The research conducted at UTHSC is led by Dr. Wei Li, Ph.D., Principal Investigator and Distinguished Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Director of the Drug Discovery Center in the College of Pharmacy, and includes Dr. Duane D. Miller, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Dr. Tiffany N. Seagroves, Ph.D., Professor of Pathology in the College of Medicine, and Dr. Junming Yue, Ph.D., associate professor of Pathology in the College of Medicine.
"We are pleased with our longstanding research collaboration with the University of Tennessee Health Science Center investigating new compounds for oncology, which has garnered additional DoD and NCI funding for new research projects," said Mitchell Steiner, M.D., Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Veru. "Dr. Wei Li and Dr. Duane Miller's research labs have demonstrated a track record of discovering important agents in advanced cancers. Furthermore, we are particularly excited about the expansion of their research into targeting cancer using drug conjugates, which may increase efficacy of these drugs with fewer unwanted side effects. Validation of this research approach is reflected in peer-reviewed support from the U.S. government in the form of two awarded grants. We are confident our public-private partnership with UTHSC will continue to flourish and potentially lead to Veru clinical programs in the coming years."
"A core research principle at UTHSC is to develop new therapeutics that can overcome existing clinical challenges in cancer indications," said Dr. Wei Li, Ph.D., Principal Investigator and UTHSC Distinguished Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Director of the Drug Discovery Center. "We are very excited to receive significant federal grants that enable us to advance our research in metastatic prostate cancer, metastatic breast cancer and drug-resistant ovarian cancer. We are committed to collaborating with our clinical partner, Veru, who may ultimately pursue for late-stage clinical drug development." |
