DNAmicroarray, Inc., (“DNAMi”) a Grant recipient from the Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Project (QTDP) Program, announced today that it is enhancing its R&D for Chemically induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (CiPSC, patent pending) as a result of the QTDP funding. The QTDP’s grants and tax credits were provided under the new section 48D of the Internal Revenue Code, enacted as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. The grant in the amount of $244,479 is to support pre-clinical development of CiPSC. Scientists at DNAMi were the first to invent reprogramming of adult somatic cells into pluripotent (embryonic like) state using pharmaceutical agents only and bypassing the use of any genetic vectors. Reprogramming one’s own cells from the body gives the therapeutic power of embryonic stem cells without the ethical and political controversies. This patent pending methodology has been referred to as the “The Holy Grail of Regenerative Medicine” in the scientific literature and holds most promise for clinical development, bypassing regulatory hurdles associated with current iPS methodologies and immune rejection issues associated with embryonic stem cell based therapies. Company is also in pursuit of application of its CiPSC technology to Genome Wide Association Studies (GWAS) of uncured diseases to develop “disease in a dish” pharmaceutical discovery and testing projects. Alzheimer’s disease and cardiovascular disorders are being targeted initially in collaboration with academic institutions and pharmaceutical companies.
“We are extremely pleased to be one of the recipients for funding under the QTDP program which will significantly advance our development of the CiPSC technology. The QTDP funds help offset the costs associated with preclinical development, setting the stage for early clinical translation of the CiPSC technology.” remarked CEO, Dr. Babak Esmaeli-Azad, Ph.D.
About DNAmicroarray, Inc.
DNAMi is a privately held profitable biotechnology company, with organic growth since its foundation in 1997. Company is currently based in San Diego, California. Over the last decade DNAMi has expanded its products and services to include state of the art research tools for comprehensive “post genome” era analysis of human, animals, plants and microorganisms commercialized via company website: www.dnamicroarray.com. In 2005, company’s R&D into the use of microarrays for cell growth and pharmaceutical screening initiated the discoveries that eventually led to the development of the CiPSC technology.
About the QTDP
The QTDP is targeted to therapeutic discovery projects that show potential to result in new therapies to treat areas of unmet medical need or prevent, detect or treat chronic or acute diseases and conditions; reduce the long-term growth of health care costs in the United States. It also has the goal of eliminating cancer as a major health treat over the next 30 years. See www.irs.gov for more details.