Worcester-based Biomedical Research Models Inc. (BRM) has received a $571,610 grant to develop a treatment for lupus, Congressman James P. McGovern’s office announced this morning.
The two-year grant from the National Institutes of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases will facilitate ongoing collaboration between the company and New York-based nonprofit Feinstein Institute For Medical Research, which has developed molecules that could potentially treat the underlying causes of the autoimmune disease.
BRM will seek to determine whether the institute’s molecules possess valid, drug-like properties to support preparation of a pre-investigational new drug package.
It has been decades since regulators have approved a new drug for lupus, which affects the skin, joints, kidneys and brain.
McGovern and officials from Massachusetts Biomedical Initiatives and the Feinstein Institute joined company officials this morning in Gateway Park to announce the grant.
Founded in 1997, BRM specializes in preclinical research and development of animal models used to determine the effectiveness of new drugs for such diseases as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis, according to its website.
