Scioto Biosciences, a preclinical stage company developing innovative therapies to transform the delivery of microbiome therapeutics, today announced that they are a recipient of a Phase II SBIR grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for $2.3 million.
The Phase II award is to continue to support the research with Scioto’s collaborator, the Abigail Wexner Research Institute (AWRI) at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. The funding will be used to develop Scioto’s proprietary therapeutic SB-121, which is a unique formulation used to deliver healthy, activated probiotic or beneficial bacteria to the gastrointestinal tract. Scioto’s strategy of delivering healthy bacteria to the GI tract can be used to treat a number of different disorders ranging from infectious diseases to disorders effecting the gut-brain axis, such as autism and depression.
“The NIH has been a wonderful partner in launching this platform. We are grateful for their support and are pleased to continue to work with them as we move this novel therapeutic into the clinic,” said Joe Trebley, Scioto CEO and co-Principal Investigator (PI) on the grant.
The grant will start in August 2019 and last for two years. The funding is provided through the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS). Scioto co-founders Drs. Gail Besner, Steve Goodman and Michael Bailey will all serve as co-PIs on a grant subaward to the AWRI.
“This funding will be used to support important pre-clinical experiments prior to treating necrotizing enterocolitis in pre-term infants. The work here will be critical to inform upcoming clinical work to help combat these deadly GI disorders as well as other diseases,” said Dr. Besner, Chief of Pediatric Surgery at Nationwide Children’s.