Oligomerix Awarded Phase IIB Grant From the NIH to Discover Drugs that Inhibit Alzheimer's Disease Progression

NEW YORK, Sept. 10, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Oligomerix, Inc., a privately held company pioneering the development of disease modifying therapeutics for Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related neurodegenerative disorders, announced today the receipt of a two-year Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase IIB grant for $1.7M from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Institute on Aging (NIA).

The proceeds from this grant will be used to extend the Company's research for the development of small molecule drugs aimed specifically at inhibiting tau aggregation at the earliest steps of tau self-association into toxic oligomers in neurons. This approach may be effective in reducing extracellular tau oligomers, including dimers and trimers that have recently been reported to be involved in the spread of tau pathology and to impair memory formation in animal models of AD. A drug that reduces tau oligomer levels may lead to both an improvement in memory and a slowing or complete suspension of disease progression in AD patients and would therefore be a disease-modifying therapeutic.

James Moe, Ph.D., MBA, President and CEO of Oligomerix, stated, "We're pleased to be receiving this support, as it validates our approach and will allow us to advance our programs geared toward inhibiting tau oligomer formation that we believe plays a crucial role in AD progression. This program will allow us to evaluate our lead candidates in animal models of AD and related tauopathies with the goal of selecting candidates for IND enabling studies, a prelude to initial clinical evaluation." 

ABOUT OLIGOMERIX
Oligomerix, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of small molecule inhibitors, immunotherapeutic approaches and biomarkers targeting tau oligomers. The Company was founded in 2006 and is headquartered at Audubon Biomedical Science and Technology Park at Columbia University Medical Center and is carrying out its in vivo studies at New York Medical College.  The Company is seeking strategic partners to help accelerate these exciting programs.  For more information, visit www.oligomerix.com.

Certain matters described in this news release may be forward-looking statements subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the risk of dependence on market growth, competition and dependence on government agencies and other third parties for funding contract research and services.

CONTACTS:
Oligomerix, Inc.
Jack Pasini
Chief Commercial Officer
917-912-4088
[email protected]

Tiberend Strategic Advisors, Inc.
Andrew Mielach
212-375-2694
[email protected]

SOURCE Oligomerix, Inc.