Florida Institute Provides Seed Funding to Miami-Based Heart Genomics
Seed-Stage Company Focused on Cancer and Prliferative Diseases
Boca Raton and Gainesville, FL – June 1, 2012 -The Institute for the Commercialization of Public Research (the Institute) announced today that it has provided early-stage funding to GLG Pharma (GLG), a Jupiter-based company developing treatments based on technology licensed from the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, for cancer and other proliferative diseases wherein cells grow or multiply rapidly. The Institute works with Florida’s research universities and institutions to support new company and job creation, and participants in the program must match Institute funding with private capital raised from angel investors and other sources.
GLG Pharma is developing a series of patented inhibitors of activated Signal Transducer and Activators of Transcription 3 (p-STAT3). The p-STAT3 protein is encoded by the STAT3 gene and is unique in the ability both to respond to extracellular signals and to regulate other genes directly. In normal cells, the formation of the p-STAT3 protein is switched on and off in response to signals that control cellular function. The presence of persistent levels of p-STAT3 is thought to play a key role in a number of diseases including cancer, psoriasis, polycystic kidney disease and Crohn’s disease. GLG Pharma’s initial therapeutics are expected to aid in the treatment of a wide variety of cancers with potentially greater efficacy and significantly fewer side effects than existing therapies in the $75-80 billion anti-cancer market.
GLG’s Executive VP Michael W, Lovell, Ph.D. stated that “this funding will enable us to advance the development of three product candidates and expand our collaborations with other research institutions in Florida. We appreciate Florida’s commitment to advancing the Life Sciences sector and these funds will enable us to raise additional capital to support our product commercialization efforts.”
“Companies like GLG Pharma demonstrate the promise of a diversified, knowledge-based economy in our state, and we are pleased to offer programs that help early-stage companies such as GLG Pharma achieve critical development milestones, said Jamie Grooms, Institute president and CEO. “GLG Pharma also represents the statewide connectivity provided by the Institute, which facilitated bringing together technology from West and Central Florida, management from Northeast Florida, and funding from Southeast Florida.”