Axxam awarded substantial funding by the Regione Lombardia (Metadistretti) to support an innovative drug discovery project

Axxam announced that a consortium led by Axxam spa has been awarded a grant of EUR 1 million from the Regione Lombardia (Metadistretti) towards a EUR 2.5 million R&D program aimed at identifying and developing innovative Nav 1.7 sodium channel blockers for the treatment of pain.

This specific grant is intended to accelerate the development of innovative technologies and products in the local non-food biotechnology cluster (metadistretto). Funds are awarded on the basis of the scientific, technical and economic merit of each proposal. Axxam has applied for funding in order to finance an internal research program aimed at developing new approaches for the identification of drug candidates, based on its proprietary HTS technologies for lead identification.
The grant is non-refundable and will cover R&D expenses over a 36 month period. Axxam’s partners in the consortium are Newron Pharmaceuticals spa, a research and development company focused on novel CNS and pain therapies, and Primm srl, a service company focused on several technology platforms, as well as academic groups at the University of Milan Bicocca.

Axxam spa, as Project coordinator, will provide its ion channel drug discovery platform, including target expression, proprietary HTS technologies and screening libraries. Newron spa will contribute with its expertise in sodium channel electrophysiology and pain pharmacology, whereas Primm srl will provide its specific expertise in protein expression and peptide chemistry. This substantial financing from the Regione Lombardia provides important support to Axxam’s internal research programmes and business strategy.