Radiopharmaceutical developer Navidea Biopharmaceuticals has received a $1.8 million grant from the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) to evaluate one of its radiopharmaceuticals in Kaposi's sarcoma.
The NIH Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant will be used to fund preclinical animal studies examining the safety of intravenous injection of technetium-99m (Tc-99m) tilmanocept, which is part of the company's Manocept group of agents, according to the vendor. This will be followed by a clinical study that will evaluate the safety and efficacy of using the radiopharmaceutical with SPECT imaging to identify and quantify skin- and organ-associated Kaposi's sarcoma lesions in human subjects.
The grant will be awarded in two parts over 2.5 years. The first six-month funding segment of $300,000 has already been conferred and allows Navidea to secure necessary collaborations and approvals, according to the company. The second funding segment will provide up to $1.5 million to find participants, conduct the phase I/II study, and perform data analyses.
