February 5, 2019
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC (February 5, 2019) – Dignify Therapeutics LLC, a drug development company focused on restoring bladder and bowel control for people with spinal injury, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, and the elderly, has been awarded CREATE Bio award U44NS106685 by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) of the National Institutes of Health. This grant provides $3.6 million and 3 years of potential milestone-driven support for Dignify’s lead drug development program in preparation for a future Phase I clinical study.
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.
“This award from NINDS offers further validation of our scientific and drug development expertise” said Principal Investigator and company President, Dr. Ed Burgard. “In the past five years, Dignify has received 11 grants from National Institutes of Health Agencies including NINDS, NIDDK, NIA and NICHD that have provided the company with over $8 million in funding for development of novel bladder and bowel therapies. With this new award, we will continue to develop new treatments for individuals in desperate need”.
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 through venture capital (RA Capital Mgmt and Eshelman Ventures), angel investors, the National Institutes of Health, the North Carolina Biotechnology Center and the One NC Small Business Program. Dignify Therapeutics is located at the First Flight Venture Center in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.
This content is solely the responsibility of Dignify Therapeutics and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
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
