PhaSER Biomedical, a young company dedicated to accelerating drug discovery and development, has secured a significant $2.3 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. This funding will propel the company’s efforts to provide its innovative 8HUM transgenic mouse models to researchers tackling critical global health challenges.
Recently a Paris-based Aqemia using Gen AI to design new drugs raised €60M as well.
Advancing drug development with humanised models
The company’s core offering lies in the 8HUM transgenic mouse model, which boasts humanised pathways critical to drug metabolism and disposition. This unique feature allows for closer mimicry of how drugs behave within the human body, compared to standard mouse models. Professor Roland Wolf, PhaSER’s founder, elaborates, “These models replicate human drug metabolism and offer multiple applications, including assessing drug efficacy, predicting drug-drug interactions, and designing more informed clinical trials.”
This humanised approach holds immense potential. It could not only expedite the discovery of new treatments for diseases like malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV, but also reduce the number of promising drugs failing in clinical trials due to unforeseen metabolic differences between mice and humans. Furthermore, widespread adoption of 8HUM models has the potential to decrease reliance on animal testing in drug development, addressing ethical concerns and potentially lowering costs.
Collaborating for global health impact
The Gates Foundation grant positions PhaSER as a collaborator within the Global Health Discovery Collaboratory Programme. This grants researchers dedicated to tackling various critical health priorities access to PhaSER’s powerful drug discovery platform. “We are thrilled to receive this support from the Gates Foundation,” says Professor Wolf. He further adds, “It allows us to provide these valuable mice to research groups working on some of the most pressing global healthcare challenges we face today.”
These researchers, focusing on areas like pandemic preparedness and non-hormonal contraception, stand to benefit from 8HUM models, potentially accelerating the development of life-saving treatments for millions worldwide.
Building on a strong foundation
Founded in 2022, PhaSER Biomedical leverages the 8HUM technology, meticulously developed over two decades by a consortium including Taconic Farms, CXR Biosciences, and the University of Dundee.
The company actively collaborates with diverse players in the field – companies, universities, and charitable organisations – to ensure the 8HUM model’s widespread adoption in global drug discovery and development efforts. With this latest grant and its collaborative spirit, PhaSER Biomedical is poised to play a significant role in shaping a future where innovative tools pave the way for more effective and efficient solutions to global health challenges.
