Buffalo spinout Cytocybernetics hopes its technology will help stop drug candidates failing clinical trials for causing heart attacks.
Cytocybernetics, a biotechnology spinout of University of Buffalo, has attracted approximately $291,000 in funding from the State University of New York (SUNY)’s Technology Accelerator Fund and the US National Institutes of Health (NIH).
NIH provided a $241,933 Small Business Technology Transfer award, while SUNY invested the remaining $50,000.
Founded in 2013, Cytocybernetics aims to more than halve both the time and money needed for preclinical trials of drug candidates, which can currently take several years and up to $500m.
The spinout’s technology, cybercyte, prevents drug candidates from causing heart failures, a common reason for products to fail during trials. It is based on research by Glenna Bett and Randall Rasmussen of Buffalo’s School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.
The money will support a study to prove the technology effectiveness to US regulator Food and Drug Administration.
Cytocybernetics is also set to open a research centre on Buffalo’s south campus, and will benefit from tax incentives received as part of the Startup NY programme.
