News Release Distributed 11/04/10
TransGenRx, a Baton Rouge biopharmaceutical manufacturing company started through licensing agreements with the LSU AgCenter, has been awarded a $244,479 grant under the Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Project (QTDP) for its project “Engineered Gylcosylated Interferons for the Treatment of Viral Disease, Melanoma and MS.”
This grant was awarded by the Internal Revenue Service in conjunction with the Department of Health and Human Services. The QTDP was created by Congress on May 21, 2010, to help fund new and cost-saving therapies.
“Funds from the grant will be used to further characterize the compounds biochemically and initiate animal trials,” said Richard Cooper, professor in the Department of Veterinary Science and TransGenRx chief science officer. “Animal trial results will determine which compound will go forward in clinical trials.”
A total of $1 billion is being awarded through the QTDP to successful applicants across the country. TransGenRx is one of the start-up companies located in the Louisiana Emerging Technology Center on the LSU campus.
Linda Foster Benedict