SIGNABLOK, INC. — Department of Health and Human Services SBIR Phase I: DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic, systemic infl
SIGNABLOK, INC. — SBIR Phase I award from Department of Health and Human Services.
- Amount
- $223,013
- Agency
- Department of Health and Human Services · National Institutes of Health
- Program / Phase
- SBIR · Phase I
- Solicitation
- PA14-071
- NAICS
- —
- Place of performance
- MA
- Period
- —
Description
DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic, systemic inflammatory disorder that causes chronic inflammation of the joints. RA affects about 1.5 million Americans and costs society more than 40 billion each year. Despite advances in therapy, RA has no cure. Current treatments of RA include non-steroidal anti- inflammatory drugs, corticosteroids, and disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs). They all have multiple shortcomings including a high level of serious side effects and insufficient efficacy. Methotrexate (MTX), a folate antagonist that blocks folic acid activity, is the most widely used non-biologic DMARD. However, its significant toxicity which is usually related to the dose taken drastically limits its clinical use and is the most common cause of discontinuing MTX therapy. Biologic DMARDs include tumor necrosis factor (TNF) blockers such as Humira. TNF blockers may cause serious side effects such as infections and malignancies. This highlights the need for