$10,000 is needed to fund the research through Science Exchange.
OncoSynergy, a drug developer spun out of the University of California, San Francisco, is looking to raise $10,000 to test a cancer drug against Ebola.
The company is raising the money on Experiment, a crowdfunding platform squarely aimed at scientific research. The research will be conducted through Science Exchange, a website fostering scientific collaboration through which researchers can pay a lab to conduct their experiment. Among Science Exchange’s participating labs are facilities at John Hopkins University, Mayo Clinic and the Harvard Medical School.
The crowdfunding is ongoing and as of the time of publication (August 26, 2014) has secured $1,401, or 15%, with 26 days left to go. If successful, the company has pledged open access, that is, unrestricted online access to its research.
OncoSynergy’s drug OS2966, which treats glioblastoma – the most aggressive and most common adult brain tumour – was granted orphan drug status by the US Food and Drug Administration earlier in August 2014. The company hopes that the drug’s capability to suppress tumour growth could also be effective against the Ebola fever, as both glioblastoma and Ebola use the same molecule to infect blood cells.
Dr W Shawn Carbonell, founder and chief executive at OncoSynergy, said: “We have a unique opportunity to potentially affect a major impact on the current global ebola crisis. However, as a seed stage biotech startup with six employees, we do not have the bandwidth to take on projects beyond our central mission focused on cancer. We are teaming up with Science Exchange and Experiment to accomplish the initial experiments which are an important first step towards possible clinical testing of OS2966. We now need the public’s help to fund the work so we can start as soon as possible.”
