Noxxon Pharma AG, clinical-stage developer of L-RNA based scaffolds (Spiegelmers) that bind their targets conceptually similar to antibodies, announced that the company was awarded a research grant from Germany's Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) under the ministry's small and medium enterprise innovation initiative ("KMU-Innovativ"). The grant was presented to Noxxon following the completion of a peer reviewed selection process.

Under the initiative Noxxon will receive 1.2 million Euro (1.7 million US$) in funding for the impending phase I clinical development of its candidate Spiegelmer NOX-A12. The company develops NOX-A12 for use in autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation in patients suffering from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma or multiple myeloma.

Noxxon's chief executive officer Frank Morich commented: "In awarding this competitive research grant to Noxxon, the BMBF acknowledges our tremendous progress in maturing Spiegelmer compounds into therapeutic candidates for human use. The transition from preclinical studies to clinical trials is a critical junction in the development of an innovative compound. We are grateful to the BMBF for providing grant support at this crucial stage."

Spiegelmers (L-aptamers) are chemical entities based on synthetic mirror-image oligonucleotides. Due to their unique mirror image configuration Spiegelmers are not metabolized and do not hybridize with native nucleic acids. Spiegelmers also do not activate the innate immune response via Toll-like receptors and have shown an exceptionally favourable immunogenicity profile in pre-clinical testing. The phase I clinical development of NOX-A12 will follow closely behind that of Noxxon's lead candidate NOX-E36, which entered human testing in June of 2009.

Berlin-based Noxxon Pharma AG is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focusing on the development of Spiegelmers for the treatment of inflammatory diseases and haematological indications. In addition to its in-house programmes Noxxon discovers and develops Spiegelmers in collaboration with partners from the pharmaceutical industry, including Eli Lilly, Hoffmann La-Roche and Pfizer.