Celdara Medical, LLC announced today that it has received a $288k SBIR Phase I award from the National Institutes of Health’s National Cancer Institute (NCI). This award will support proof-of-concept for combination immunotherapies for the treatment of melanoma.
“Immunotherapies have clearly demonstrated their worth in the clinic, but none is a panacea on its own. By designing combinations of best-in-class therapies with novel, tumor microenvironment-targeted therapies, we aim to advance the field and provide better options for patients with advanced melanoma, and eventually, other solid tumors,” said Jake Reder, Ph.D., cofounder and CEO of Celdara Medical.
The tumor microenvironment is a complex system which helps tumors evade the immune system. Consisting of vasculature, co-opted immune cells, fibroblasts, and a variety of other cell types and structural elements, the tumor microenvironment enables cancer to become established and grow. Targeting the microenvironment is one strategy to make cancer more susceptible to therapies that directly target cancerous cells. Combination therapies use two or more drugs to attack different components of the disease.
Research reported in this press release was supported by the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health under award number R43CA168103. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
About Celdara Medical, LLC
Celdara Medical was founded by Drs. Jake Reder and Michael Fanger in 2008, and is headquartered at the Dartmouth Regional Technology Center (DRTC) in Lebanon, NH. Celdara Medical builds academic and early-stage innovations into high-potential medical companies, identifying discoveries of exceptional value at the earliest stages and moving them toward the market. Celdara Medical partners with inventors and their institutions, providing the developmental, financial, and business acumen required to bridge discovery and profitability. With robust funding options, a diverse and high impact Programmatic pipeline, and partnerships with world-class academic institutions and industry leaders, Celdara Medical navigates all aspects of a complex industry, accelerating science to improve human health.