BETHESDA, Md., April 27, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- New Health Sciences, Inc. (NHSi), a medical technology company focused on innovations to improve transfusion therapy, announced today that it has been awarded an SBIR Phase IIB Bridge Grant by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The award provides $3 million in funding over 3 years to complete the product development and clinical work required to commercialize Hemanext®, NHSi's novel gas optimized storage system for donated red blood cells.
SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) Phase IIB grants are intended to support companies through their last stages of R&D before commercialization. Only previous SBIR Phase II grant recipients are eligible to apply and winners must submit a viable Commercialization plan, including commitments from independent third party funding sources to match or exceed the NIH funds awarded. This award was granted under solicitation Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) RFA-HL-16-009 and follows earlier grants and contracts from the NIH providing $3.8 million.
In the US, 5 million patients receive blood transfusions every year for everything from traumatic bleeding to oncology related anemia to inherited diseases such as sickle cell disease. Blood transfusions save and sustain thousands of lives every day, but studies have shown that transfused blood, particularly in large volumes and to vulnerable patients can increase the risk of infections, adverse events and death. The deterioration that occurs in red blood cells during storage is well established and may hold the potential for harm especially at the end of storage life. New research is also revealing wide variations in the storage characteristics of blood from different donors.
The Hemanext Storage System seeks to minimize the degradation and resulting wide variation in Red Blood Cell (RBC) quality seen in storage over time. The project the NIH is supporting will deliver a regulatory approved and commercialized RBC processing and storage system to improve transfusion therapy by minimizing oxidative damage and optimizing RBC metabolism. "We are proud and fortunate to have the continued support of the NIH in our mission to improve the safety and efficacy of transfusion therapy," said Martin Cannon, CEO of NHSi. "We are committed to translating their support and appreciation for the work we are doing into products that deliver substantial and measurable benefits to patients receiving transfusion therapy."
About Us:
New Health Sciences, Inc. (NHSi) is a medical technology company with headquarters in Bethesda MD, with an R&D center of excellence in Cambridge MA. Our corporate mission is to support the transfusion medicine community in its efforts to save lives and improve patient outcomes. Our distinctive focus is on innovations that promote radical improvements in the quality, safety, efficacy and cost of transfusion therapy. For more information, visit www.newhealthsciences.com.
Media Contact:
Ronda Kalis Taylor
Director of Product Marketing
(617) 945-9537
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SOURCE New Health Sciences, Inc.
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