NIH doles out $1M to Acorda for HF research

The National Institutes of Health's National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) has granted Acorda Therapeutics a $1 million grant to fund research surrounding its Glial Growth Factor 2 (GGF2), an investigational agent used to treat heart failure.

Acorda will partner with the Vanderbilt University Heart and Vascular Institute in Nashville, Tenn., to conduct a clinical study for GGF2 that is projected to start mid-2010. The Hawthorne, N.Y.-based company said that the agent has the potential to repair damaged tissue around the heart by acting on the cardiomyocytes to improve heart function. 

The grant is part of NHLBI's Cardiac Translational Research Implementation Program (C-TRIP) grant series that aims to fund research initiatives that address unmet medical needs in the cardiovascular realm. If the upcoming GGF2 trials prove successful, Acorda and Vanderbilt will be eligible for a second  C-TRIP grant totaling $7.5 million or more, according to the company.

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