Massachusetts Life Sciences Center Announces Two New Universal Partnership (UP) Program Grants

Massachusetts Life Sciences Center Announces Two New Universal Partnership (UP) Program Grants

Waltham, MA –The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC) today announced two grants through the agency’s Universal Partnerships (UP) Program.  The grants were awarded to PNPResearch Corporation for a collaboration with BBI Solutions in Cadiff, United Kingdom and to Riparian Pharmaceuticals for a collaboration with Hybrigenics Services in Paris, France.

“As the global leader in life sciences, Massachusetts has a unique ability to collaborate with companies in other parts of the world to improve health care through innovation,” said Governor Charlie Baker. “I’m excited to see the results and the impact of these international partnerships.”

Based in Drury, Massachusetts, PNPRC utilizes plasmonic nanoparticles to detect and corroborate a new biomarker for lung and ovarian cancers. PNPRC is collaborating with BBI Solutions, a Welsh company with expertise in preparing one of the key reagents needed for the new test. At this time, there is an unfulfilled medical need for biomarkers and improved treatments for lung and ovarian cancers. Once developed, the new test could lead to improved detection and outcome of these challenging diseases. The grant funding, which will go to PNPRC to support the collaboration, totals $198,400.

“We could not hope to achieve our goal of understanding the cellular immune response to ovarian cancer without an international partnership with BBI Solutions of Cardiff, UK,” said Petra B. Krauledat Ph.D., Founder of PNPResearch Corporation.  “BBI is a pioneer in plasmonic nanoparticle probe diagnostics and a natural fit with our Boston- based effort, which leverages collaborations with Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Wellman Center for Photomedicine. International cooperation in the life sciences is essential, not only for innovative product development but also for the creation of export markets via the effective deployment of medical diagnostic tools worldwide.”

Riparian Pharmaceuticals, located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, uses unique biological screening to identify novel small molecules protective in atherosclerotic vascular disease among other disorders. Hybrigenics, the company collaborating with Riparian, has complimentary expertise in yeast screening technology and conducting an unbiased proteome-wide search for the protein binding partners of Riparian’s lead compound. The work of this partnership focuses on the development of a new medicine in a therapeutic area where many pharmaceutical companies have abandoned research and development of new drugs. Riparian will receive $200,000 in funding from the MLSC.

 “Riparian is discovering small molecules therapeutics to promote vascular health and provide a new therapeutic approach to cardiovascular and diabetic vascular diseases among others,” said Will Adams, CSO and co-founder of Riparian Pharmaceuticals, Inc. “This MLSC UP grant will allow Riparian to leverage Hybrigenics Services’ expertise in probing protein interactions and provide new biological insight into our discovery efforts.”

Last summer, at the 2014 BIO International Convention, the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC) announced the launch of the UP Program, a new international program to provide grant funding to support Massachusetts companies who are forming R&D collaborations with life science organizations throughout the world. The creation of the UP Program furthers the MLSC’s efforts to create global partnerships between life science organizations to enable scientific and commercial breakthroughs and to fuel economic development in the Commonwealth. The UP program enhances the MLSC’s international program portfolio by offering Massachusetts companies more collaboration opportunities.

“No country can address the challenges of life sciences discovery and development alone,” said Susan Windham Bannister, Ph.D. President & CEO of MLSC. “The challenges we face in trying to improve global health are too great. The Center's Universal Partnership Program enables Massachusetts companies to partner with colleagues around the world to collaboratively address health challenges. The partnerships between Massachusetts-based PNPResearch Corporation and Riparian Pharma with British company BBI Solutions and Hybrigenics Services of Paris are great examples of the type of collaboration that we hope to encourage with UP.”

For the inaugural year of the UP Program, the MLSC will award grants ranging from a minimum of $50,000 to a maximum of $200,000 to selected Massachusetts companies. Applications will be accepted year round and an ongoing review will allow for a streamlined process. An eligible project will focus on a milestone within a R&D collaboration and will consist of one Massachusetts company and an organization in a non-U.S. geography, which could include a company, an academic institution, a hospital or a research institute.

For more information about the Universal Partnership Program, visit www.masslifesciences.com/programs/up.