U.S. Department of Defense Awards Grant to SiteOne Therapeutics, Supporting Research and Development of Selective Small Molecule NaV1.7 Inhibitors as Acute and Chronic Pain Therapeutics

BOZEMAN, Mont., Nov. 7, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Dept. of Defense is supporting SiteOne Therapeutics in the effort to develop the company's proprietary, highly selective small molecule Na?1.7 inhibitors for the treatment of acute and chronic pain. 

In an announcement today, SiteOne Therapeutics Co-Founder and Vice President of Research, John Mulcahy, said "The validation and confidence of officials of the U.S. Department of Defense is exceptionally welcome.  There is a critical need for non-opioid therapeutics that treat acute and chronic pain effectively, allowing for less reliance on opioids, and reducing the side effects and addiction potential associated with them.  We are committed to advancing our research and development programs focused on Na?1.7 and are inspired by the confidence of the many people and entities who support our approach."

In January 2017, Stan Abel, Chief Executive Officer and President of SiteOne Therapeutics announced the closing of a research and development agreement with Amgen, a collaboration focused on combining SiteOne's experienced drug discovery team and portfolio of novel Na?1.7 inhibitors with Amgen's neuroscience capabilities.  At the same time, Abel announced that SiteOne had closed a $15 million series B round of financing, led by Amgen and joined by founding investors Next Frontier Capital, 2M Companies Inc., Mission Bay Capital, Sears Capital Management, Biobrit LLC, and Z Investments.

About SiteOne Therapeutics

SiteOne Therapeutics was founded with technology licensed from Stanford University. The company has advanced this science with support from its founding investors as well as from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) which contributed more than $3 million in Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant funding.

SiteOne Therapeutics is headquartered in Bozeman, Montana with a research team based in the San Francisco, California area.  Since its inception, SiteOne has been dedicated to developing novel pain therapeutics and diagnostics to safely, effectively and efficiently treat acute and chronic pain without the limitations of existing pain therapies, such as NSAIDs or opioids. The company's therapeutic candidates are highly selective sodium ion channel 1.7 (Na?1.7) inhibitors based on naturally occurring small molecules. Given the critical role Na?1.7 plays in the generation and conduction of pain signals, combined with the urgent need for new, non-opioid pain therapies, SiteOne is focused on advancing its lead products for the treatment of moderate to severe pain.

DOD REQUIRED INFORMATION INCLUDED IN THIS PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT

The U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity, 820 Chandler Street, Fort Detrick MD 21702-5014 is the awarding and administering acquisition office.  This work was supported by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, through the Broad Agency Announcement under Award No. W81XWH-17-1-0672. Opinions, interpretations, conclusions and recommendations are those of the author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Department of Defense.  In conducting research using animals, the investigator(s) adheres to the laws of the United States and regulations of the Department of Agriculture.  In the conduct of research utilizing recombinant DNA, the investigator adhered to NIH Guidelines for research involving recombinant DNA molecules.  In the conduct of research involving hazardous organisms or toxins, the investigator adhered to the CDC-NIH Guide for Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories.

For more information, visit SiteOne's Web site at www.site1therapeutics.com. 

SOURCE SiteOne Therapeutics