RegeneRx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc has been awarded a US$ 3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health's National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute to support and accelerate the clinical development of its research on heart disease drug.

The novel product candidate RGN-352, is an injectable formulation of the novel therapeutic peptide thymosin beta 4, or TB4, for patients who have suffered an acute myocardial infarction (AMI), commonly known as a heart attack.

The award is being issued under the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009. The company is planning to initiate a Phase 2 clinical trial with RGN-352 later this year. This highly competitive grant award will allow the company to conduct a number of key scientific activities in parallel that should facilitate the commercial development of RGN-352, comments a company press release.

RegeneRx is focused on the development of TB4 for tissue and organ protection, repair and regeneration.