CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Cydan II Inc., an orphan drug accelerator dedicated to creating therapies that impact the lives of people living with rare genetic diseases, today announced it has selected four start-up organizations and companies to receive $5,000 scholarships to support innovations that impact the lives of people with rare conditions. These teams will receive the 2018 Cydan Scholarships in partnership with MassChallenge 2018.
“These innovators of technology and science have committed to developing products, devices and services targeting rare diseases to improve the lives of patients,” said Chris Adams, Ph.D., Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Cydan. “We share a kindred spirit with these organization as we work creatively to accelerate meaningful new treatments for patients with rare diseases. We are excited to support these promising start-ups and follow their progress during the 2018 MassChallenge and beyond.”
In addition to the financial commitment, Cydan, as a MassChallenge sponsor, will provide hands-on mentorship and support to the companies.
The 2018 Scholarship winners are:
- Meter Therapeutics is researching one of life's greatest mysteries —intractable hiccups! While many think of the hiccups as a cute annoyance, chronic hiccups are a rare and debilitating condition affecting patients already struggling with cancer, heart disease, dialysis, and surgery. To date, clinicians and patients have had few treatment options and little data to support their use. Meter is working to replace a 1950's-era antipsychotic drug with a new standard of care for chronic hiccups.
- Remora Therapeutics is a preclinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing novel platelet-based cell therapies. The technology is designed to engineer platelets to fight disease and improve the quality of life for patients living with debilitating illness.
- Oxalo Therapeutics is developing a novel drug therapy to treat and prevent recurrent kidney stones, as well as other renal diseases caused by high levels of oxalate in the body.
- TREND Community is an invitation-only network of consented patients and caregivers living with rare disease who are engaged in community-powered science. Caregivers and medical professionals can track and share real-time health information in order to collectively evaluate the effectiveness of therapies, diet and other interventions.
MassChallenge Boston sponsors, such as Cydan, awarded scholarships to eligible companies participating in the 2018 Accelerator Program. Other scholarship sponsors include BNY Mellon, Microsoft and MassCEC.
About Cydan
Cydan is an orphan drug accelerator dedicated to delivering therapies that will significantly improve the lives of people living with rare genetic diseases. The company evaluates experimental new therapies and advances those with the highest potential to be disease modifying treatments. Cydan’s goal is to launch new companies focused on developing promising therapies for rare genetic diseases with high unmet medical need. Cydan was founded in 2013 by a management team with extensive drug discovery, clinical development and business development experience and is financed by leading life sciences investors including New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Pfizer Venture Investments, Lundbeckfonden Ventures, Longitude Capital, and Alexandria Venture Investments. Cydan is based in Tech Square in Cambridge, Mass. For more information, visit http://www.cydanco.com or contact the company at info@cydanco.com.
