Bolder BioTechnology Inc has been awarded a $100,000 Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Cancer Institute of The National Institutes of Health.The grant, entitled "Long-Acting Stabilized Angiostatin Proteins for Treating Cancer," supports research to develop longer acting, more potent forms of human angiostatin using Bolder BioTechnology's proprietary targeted protein modification technologies.

Mary S. Rosendahl, the Principal Investigator for the grant, stated "We are very pleased to receive support from the National Cancer Institute to develop potentially better medicines for cancer patients.Angiostatin is one of a number of recently identified human proteins that inhibit formation of new blood vessels.Because tumors require new blood vessels for growth and survival, proteins such as angiostatin may prove useful for blocking growth of a variety of tumors in cancer patients.Angiostatin has proven effective at slowing the growth of human tumor cells in animal models and is being tested in cancer patients in early stage human clinical trials.A limitation of current angiostatin therapies is the fact that the protein is cleared rapidly from the body and must be administered to patients by frequent injection or continuous infusion.The goal of this SBIR grant is to develop second-generation angiostatin proteins with improved stability, higher potency and longer circulating half-lives.These improvements should reduce the need to administer angiostatin by frequent injection and may potentially enhance the ability of angiostatin to inhibit tumor growth in cancer patients."

The SBIR program is a peer-reviewed grant program that provides research support to small businesses to discover and develop innovative biomedical products for the treatment of serious unmet medical needs.Companies that successfully meet the goals of Phase I grants are eligible to apply for an additional $750,000 in Phase II grant support to continue their product development efforts.