Safo receives R61/R33 grant for pre-trial studies

October 1, 2024

Professor Martin Safo's anti-sickling agent ILX002 has been received for pre-clinical and clinical development by the NHLBI under the CATALYZE Drug Development Program. He is funded by a R61/R33 grant to perform a number of pre-clinical studies. His acceptance into the NIH CATALYZE Program implies that his results have satisfied the program leaders of the value of investing in GMP scale synthesis, GMP toxicological studies, etc. This program will attempt to develop the molecule sufficiently so that big pharma can perform human phase I clinical studies, which are anticipated to begin in a year or so. This is great news for Professor Safo, his collaborators (Drs. Yan Zhang and Jurgen Venitz), the department and the school. Congratulations to them all.

In addition, Professor Safo's proposal "Novel Nitric Oxide Releasing Antisickling Aromatic Aldehydes for Sickle Cell Disease Therapy" has just been awarded a VCU Research Quest grant, which originates from the Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation (OVPRI). Congratulations, Professor Safo!