VIPC Awards CCF Grant to UVA Health for the Development of New Antimicrobial Therapies
CCF award supports Dr. Molly Hughes and her research team in the development of a novel bactericidal peptide to address antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES, November 30, 2023 /EINPresswire.com/ — The Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation (VIPC) today announced that UVA Health has been awarded a Commonwealth Commercialization Fund (CCF) grant for $75,000 in support of research conducted by Dr. Molly Hughes, her co-investigator Dr. Matthew Crawford, and their colleagues. VIPC’s CCF programs have distributed more than $53 million to Virginia-based startups, entrepreneurs, and university-based inventors since 2012 in support of critical early technology testing and market validation efforts.
The ongoing spread of antibiotic resistance among bacteria that cause life-threatening infections is a problem of paramount importance in the United States and worldwide. Infections caused by these pathogens are associated with frequent treatment failures, increased hospitalization costs, and high patient morbidity and mortality. Accordingly, there is an urgent need for new antimicrobial therapies. Dr. Hughes and her colleagues at the University of Virginia have developed a unique set of bactericidal peptides to help address this gap in effective therapeutics.
Dr. Hughes and her team will use CCF funding, along with a grant from UVA’s Ivy Biomedical Innovation Fund, to enhance the antimicrobial effects of novel peptides through amino acid sequence substitutions and functional testing. The planned lead peptide optimization program will constructively advance major product development considerations, including therapeutic efficacy and intellectual property protection.
“The progress we can make on new antibacterial agents over the course of the grant will be essential in advancing our efforts to develop novel therapeutic strategies,” said Dr. Molly Hughes, Professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases and International Health at the UVA School of Medicine. “Support from CCF will allow us to advance our translational research efforts, secure additional funding, and identify industry partners to further our commercialization efforts.”
“CCF is enthusiastic about supporting Dr. Hughes’ novel therapeutic with this award because it’s addressing the alarming increase in antimicrobial resistance in the U.S., especially following the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Hina Mehta, VIPC’s Director for University Programs. “Combined with funding and support from the respected Ivy Biomedical Innovation Fund, Dr. Hughes is well on her way to optimizing and advancing the lead candidate into expanded pre-clinical studies to counter difficult-to-treat bacterial infections.”
UVA Health is an academic health system that recently expanded to include four hospitals across Charlottesville, Culpeper, and Northern Virginia, along with the UVA School of Medicine, UVA School of Nursing, UVA Physicians Group, and the Claude Moore Health Sciences Library.
About Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation (VIPC)
VIPC: Connecting innovators with opportunities. As the nonprofit operations arm of the Virginia Innovation Partnership Authority (VIPA), VIPC is the commercialization and seed stage economic development driver in the Commonwealth that leads funding, infrastructure, and policy initiatives to support Virginia’s innovators, entrepreneurs, startups, and market development strategies. VIPC collaborates with local, regional, state, and federal partners to support the expansion and diversification of Virginia’s economy.
Programs include: Virginia Venture Partners (VVP) | VVP Fund of Funds (SSBCI) | Virginia Founders Fund (VFF) | Commonwealth Commercialization Fund (CCF) | Petersburg Founders Fund (PFF) | Smart Communities | The Virginia Smart Community Testbed | The Virginia Unmanned Systems Center | Virginia Advanced Air Mobility Alliance (VAAMA) | The Public Safety Innovation Center | Entrepreneurial Ecosystems | Regional Innovation Fund (RIF) | Federal Funding Assistance Program (FFAP) for SBIR & STTR | University Partnerships | Startup Company Mentoring & Engagement. For more information, please visit www.VirginiaIPC.org. Follow VIPC on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and LinkedIn.
About the Commonwealth Commercialization Fund (CCF)
VIPC’s Commonwealth Commercialization Fund (CCF) accepts applications and awards funding on a rolling basis to Virginia’s small businesses and university-based innovators. For Virginia’s academic and nonprofit research community, the competitive grant program seeks to fund high-potential Virginia-based academic research teams that are developing technologies with strong commercial potential. The grants support early technology and market validation efforts such as customer discovery, market research, business model validation, the development of prototypes or minimum viable products (MVPs), customer pilots, and intellectual property protection, team development, and more. For more information on funding opportunities and eligibility requirements, or to apply, visit the CCF pages from www.VirginiaIPC.org.
Angela Costello, Vice President of Communications
Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation (VIPC)
angela.costello@VirginiaIPC.org
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