RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC (September 19, 2017) – Dignify Therapeutics LLC, a drug development company focused on restoring bladder and bowel control for the elderly, as well as people with spinal injury, multiple sclerosis, or diabetes, received three NIH SBIR/STTR grants in 2017 totaling $4.1 million. The grants were awarded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases and the National Institute on Aging. The grants support the growth of Dignify’s lead drug development program in preparation for a Phase I clinical study, as well as studies to identify alternative formulations, through collaboration with the Division of Pharmacoengineering & Molecular Pharmaceutics at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy.

Dignify is developing a novel, on-demand, drug-induced voiding therapy for bladder and bowel dysfunction to eliminate or reduce the need for life-long, multiple-daily catheterization of the bladder and manual bowel programs. Worldwide catheter sales total $3 billion/year, while health care expenditures associated with voiding dysfunction cost $7 billion/year in the US alone. Thus, success of Dignify’s lead drug development program will not only improve the quality of life for individuals with voiding dysfunction, it will also substantially reduce health care costs.

“We are very appreciative of our continued support from the NIH” said Chief Scientific Officer, Dr. Karl Thor. “Since 2013 Dignify has also been awarded NIH grant support from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke to develop an “on-demand, rapid-onset, short-duration, drug-induced, voiding therapy”.

About Dignify Therapeutics LLC

Founded by a team of serial entrepreneurs who are internationally-recognized scientists and clinicians, Dignify Therapeutics’ mission is to provide safe, effective, practical and convenient, pharmaceutical agents to treat bladder and bowel voiding dysfunctions, using a repositioning strategy of drug discovery that the team has successfully implemented multiple times over the last 20 years in the fields of urology and gastroenterology. The Company is funded by venture capitalists (RA Capital and Eshelman Ventures), angel investors, the North Carolina Biotechnology Center and the One NC Small Business Program. Dignify, a member of the Blackstone Entrepreneur Network, is located at the First Flight Venture Center in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.

PRESS CONTACT

Dignify Therapeutics

Ed Burgard

P.O. Box 13169

2 Davis Drive

Research Triangle Park, NC 27709

Phone: 919-371-8138

Email:  eburgard@dignifytherapeutics.com

Website:  https://dignifytherapeutics.com