Pharmaceutical firm Canbex, a spin-out of University College London, has received a grant for £1.25m ($1.77m) from the TSB Biocatalyst Fund.
The injection of cash from the fund, a joint venture between the UK’s Medical Research Council and Technology Strategy Board to support British life sciences, will be used to support the ongoing development of treatments for spasticity in multiple sclerosis.
Jesse Schulman, chief executive of Canbex, said: “The goal of the Canbex programme is to set a new standard in the treatment of spasticity through improved tolerability. Spasticity is among the most serious and debilitating symptoms of MS. VSN16R, our lead investigational candidate, has the potential to make a difference to people with MS.”
Keith Powell, chairman of Canbex, added: “We are very grateful for the support of the Biocatalyst fund from the TSB. The grant enables us to deliver a very high quality of program in the first human trials, starting next month, and we anticipate will deliver a phase 2 ready project within a year. The grant will also enable supporting studies in the laboratories of Prof David Baker at Queen Mary, University of London and Prof David Selwood, the inventor of VSN16R at UCL.”
