SRI International receives $17.4 million grant to boost treatments for cardiovascular, lung, blood diseases

SRI International, an independent nonprofit research and development organization, announced today that it has been awarded two preclinical services contracts totaling $17.4 million by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), one of the National Institutes of Health. SRI researchers will support NHLBI's Science Moving TowArds Research Translation and Therapy (SMARTT) Program to provide resources that assist translation to the clinic of novel therapeutics for the treatment of heart, lung, and blood diseases.

According to NHLBI, cardiovascular, lung, and blood diseases constitute a large morbidity, mortality, and economic burden and accounted for 43 percent of all deaths in the United States in 2006. The projected economic cost for these diseases is expected to be $705 billion this year, 23 percent of the total economic costs of all illness, injuries, and death.

SRI was awarded an $11.5 million contract to lead a Pharmacology and Toxicology Center that will work cooperatively with NHLBI and other organizations to provide rapid and cost-effective studies for potential therapies. Researchers will conduct pharmacology and preclinical studies with candidate drugs and develop scientific data such as treatment regimens and efficacy studies needed to support U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) applications for new medications.

"Our highly qualified and experienced team is pleased to support this important translational research program that will lead the way towards human clinical safety and efficacy studies with the best candidate drugs," said Hanna Ng, Ph.D., director of preclinical safety at SRI International and the principal investigator for the SMARTT Pharmacology and Toxicology Center. "We are enthusiastic about the opportunity to help move therapeutics from the bench to the clinic."

SRI was also awarded a $5.9 million contract to provide a Non-Biologics and Small Molecules Production Facility for the SMARTT Program. The overall objective of the contract is to support translational research and provide services as an FDA-defined current good manufacturing practice (cGMP) facility. Researchers will focus on the production and testing of therapeutics to treat heart, lung, and blood diseases.

"In coordination with other SMARTT Facilities, SRI will provide an outstanding team and modern facilities suitable for a broad range of services, from screening and synthesis through formulation, analysis, and manufacture of active pharmaceutical ingredients and dosage forms," said Mary Price, Ph.D., quality control program director at SRI International and the principal investigator for the Non-Biologics and Small Molecules Production Facility.