NIH awards University of Rochester Medical Center $15M grant for study with ImmuneRegen's Homspera

Aug 25 2010

ImmuneRegen BioSciences®, a wholly owned subsidiary of IR Biosciences Holdings Inc. (OTCBB:IRBS), today announced that the National Institute of Health/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, has awarded its research partner, the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC), a $15 million five-year, continuation grant for studies that will utilize ImmuneRegen's Homspera.

URMC was awarded an initial grant of $21 million in 2005 to become part of a national research network - the Centers for Medical Countermeasures Against Radiation. The Centers were charged with researching how best to respond to a possible dirty bomb or other radiological or nuclear attack. This new award will allow URMC researchers to focus on testing known drugs and experimental agents, including Homspera, for use as a radiation-induced injury medical counter-measure.

"This funding will enable us to better define the capabilities, some of which we've already described, of Homspera in irradiated animals," stated Hal Siegel, Ph.D., ImmuneRegen's Chief Scientific Officer. "It also provides support to our efforts to develop Homspera to mitigate multiple deleterious effects of radiation, and as an agent for treating Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis as well."

This newly-funded research will expand on studies already being performed at URMC evaluating the efficacy of Homspera in mitigating lung injury induced by radiation exposure. Dr. Jacob Finkelstein, a member of ImmuneRegen's Scientific Advisory Board and investigator on several Homspera studies, is a project leader on multiple programs within the Rochester Center.

This research is an extension of studies ImmuneRegen has previously performed demonstrating efficacy of Homspera in treating pulmonary injury as well as mitigating the acute effects, including the hematopoietic syndrome, resulting from exposure to ionizing radiation.

The University of Rochester's research will be divided into four main projects, each covering a specific organ system particularly susceptible to radiation-induced injury: lung, brain, skin, and blood. ImmuneRegen's Homspera has been found have positive effects in more than one of the organ systems cited above and could be researched further in projects beyond just mitigating lung injury induced by radiation. 

Cancer patients will also benefit from the award, as Rochester researchers uncover new information about how to protect the blood vessels and bone marrow from radiation injury, common in cancer patients treated with radiation.

SOURCE ImmuneRegen BioSciences, Inc.