North Carolina biotechnology company G-Zero Therapeutics aims to develop a pill that people can take to protect against the harmful effects of chemotherapy and radiation exposure. The Chapel Hill-based company now has a $3 million federal grant to advance its work.
G-Zero, a spinout from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, received the $3 million grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health. The phase II Small Business Innovation Research Grant follows a $600,000 phase I grant awarded in 2009. Chief Science Officer Jay Strum said that the funding will allow G-Zero’s scientists to move its candidates through studies in preparation for an Investigational New Drug application.
G-Zero Therapeutics has discovered a novel, small-molecule method to prevent hematological side effects of radiation and chemotherapy. The technology also protects the kidney. G-Zero is developing the technology to make “radiomitigants,” therapies that mitigate toxicity to bone marrow and bodily organs following exposure to radiation. A few drugs are currently available to decrease toxicity before radiation exposure, but there are no drugs to treat toxicity after exposure. In addition to healthcare applications, G-Zero said that the development of nontoxic radiomitigants is a top U.S. biodefense priority.
G-Zero was founded in 2008 with help from Carolina Kickstart, a program at UNC that works to turn university research into new companies. G-Zero co-founder Dr. Norman Sharpless, a professor of medicine and genetics at UNC’s school of medicine, describes G-Zero’s technology in greater detail in this company video:
