University of Pittsburgh and accelerator BioMotiv are set to generate a spinout based on anti-inflammatory research by Rama Mallampalli and Beibei Chen.
University of Pittsburgh is partnering Biomotiv, a drug development accelerator backed by family-run commercialisation vehicle Harrington Project for Discovery & Development, to form a US-based biotech spinout, Koutif Therapeutics.
Koutif will aim to tackle inflammatory diseases with techniques based on research by Rama Mallampalli, chief of pulmonary, allergy and crucial care at University of Pittsburgh Medical Centre, and Beibei Chen, director of the university’s Small Molecule Therapeutic Centre.
The pair hope to use their compound discovery, BC-1261, to obstruct pathways associated with delivering a protein called Fbxl2. Doing so could help alleviate problems such as the rejection of lung transplants and irritable bowel disease.
The research was funded by several grants from the US government’s public health agency National Institutes of Health, including a special Centres for Advanced Diagnostics and Experimental Therapeutics award given to Mallampalli in 2014.
Mallampalli also received as much as $700,000 in 2016 under the Scholar-Innovator program of Harrington Discovery Institute at University Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio, a subsidiary under the Harrington-run umbrella.
Baiju Shah, chief executive of Biomotiv, said: “Doctors Mallampalli and Chen’s discovery presents a novel platform for inhibiting inflammation pathways.
“We look forward to accelerating their discoveries into breakthrough medicines.”
