RFU Biotech Spinout Awarded Grant for Scleroderma Research by Canadian Institutes of Health Research

BLR Bio, an RFU early-stage biotech spinout, and research partner Dr. Andrew Leask with the University of Saskatchewan have been awarded a five-year, $780,000 (Canadian $1.04 million) Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) grant to study the use of BLR Bio’s lead fibrosis molecules in scleroderma, an autoimmune disease that affects an estimated 300,000 people in the United States.

The grant will allow BLR Bio, headed by CEO Dr. Bruce Riser, a renowned expert in fibrotic diseases, to expand a long-term collaboration with the team headed by Dr. Leask, a world expert in fibrosis and scleroderma.

Scleroderma is a chronic connective-tissue disorder primarily characterized by thickening and hardening of the skin and other tissues and organs. The condition can cause loss of mobility, pain and disfigurement, and it may lead to multiorgan disease that can result in death. Current FDA-approved treatments for the disease are very limited. 

The research will help identify the fundamental mechanisms and pathways driving disease progression and regression, and the ability of BLR Bio’s drug candidate, BLR 200, to modulate these pathways and the disease. This novel therapy works through the ability to regulate the production and activity of pro-disease proteins naturally produced in the human body in response to a variety of insults.

“Our work will be pivotal in the advancement of BLR 200 into future clinical trials,” said Dr. Riser, who also serves as RFU adjunct professor of physiology and biophysics. “It’s our goal to ultimately provide a much-needed new treatment for patients who suffer greatly with this disease.”

Dr. Ronald Kaplan, RFU executive vice president for research, hailed the CIHR award. “International collaborative research is key to the discovery of new treatments for debilitating diseases like scleroderma,” he said.

BLR Bio is a privately held biotechnology company committed to the discovery and development of transformational biologics and diagnostics for the treatment of cancer and a broad spectrum of serious fibrotic diseases, with a focus on orphan and specialty fibrotic diseases. Learn more at blrbio.com.