Cenix BioScience awarded major research grant under InnoRegio program of German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) for RNAi-based development of anti-cancer drugs.
 

Dresden, Germany, July 2, 2001  - Cenix BioScience GmbH today announced that it has secured a major research grant under the InnoRegio program of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), launched to support innovation in the Federal States of the former East Germany. As part of the "InnoRegio BioMeT" sub-program, which is directed towards high-tech research & development in biotechnology and medicine in the Dresden region, Cenix BioScience has been awarded grant support totaling 1,158,000 EUR over a two year time frame from 2001 to 2003.

The funds will support a project entitled "Anti-cancer drug development (ACD)", comprising the exploration of novel drug development strategies driven through cross-analyses of phenotypes induced by small molecule compounds versus RNAi. The studies will use C. elegans and Drosophila cultured cells as model systems, and aim towards identifying novel target genes and specific anti-cancer drugs. Christophe Echeverri, CEO/CSO of Cenix BioScience commented: "As a young biotech enterprise in the Dresden region, we greatly appreciate and value this significant governmental support, which will foster further advancement of our innovative drug development approach." Michael Hannus, Group Leader at Cenix BioScience, added "I am very excited to see our Drosophila-based work expanding this way, as I do strongly believe that there is much truth in the fly."