Phylogica and Sunshine Heart net grants

Drug developer Phylogica (ASX:PYC) and artificial heart company Sunshine Heart (ASX:SHC) have been awarded a Commercial Ready grants from AusIndustry, worth $2.27 million and $2.223 million respectively.

"It has come at a perfect time -- cash is king for small biotechs like us -- and it will give us another year of cash before we have to go to market," said Phylogica CEO Stewart Washer.

Phyogica will use the funds to accelerate the development of its Phylomer drug candidates for inflammation, primarily rheumatoid arthritis.

"The inflammation market is currently dominated by potential antibody-based therapies. Phylogica's Phylomer technology, which is IP-protected in the US, Europe and Australia, retains the same biological features of antibodies but also offer additional benefits including lower manufacturing costs, a simpler path to regulatory approach and lack of antibody royalty stacks," said Washer.

The funding has also activated an agreement with the University of Melbourne to collaborate on the rheumatoid arthritis drug discovery project. "They are the specialists in this field. We will get hits against the key targets and then they will do animal models and gather preclinical data needed for our clinical trial data pack," Washer said.

Heart starter

Meanwhile, Sunshine Heart will use its grant to fund 50 per cent of two major products relating to the development of its C-Pulse heart assist device.

"It is difficult to raise money for clinical trials and to receive half of the funding required from the federal government is incredibly welcome support," said Sunshine Heart's director of corporate affairs Crispin Marsh.

The first project relates to R&D activates including extended cycle testing of the cuff that is applied around the aorta of the patient and the development of an improved percutaneous lead which carriers air from the driver into a balloon within the cuff. The second project is the extension of a pilot long-term clinical trial in two hospitals in Melbourne.

"We expect ethics committee approval from two Australian centres in the near future," Marsh said.

The clinical trial began in Auckland earlier this year, where two patients were enrolled into the study. A third patient is currently being recruited with another seven to follow. The extension of the trial will increase the rate of recruitment to the trial.

Sunshine Heart presented data from its clinical trials at the Annual Scientific Meeting of the Australasian Society of Cardiothoracic Surgeons in Queensland today.

"We are getting a lot of peer support from our results and the AusIndusty grant will bring us through the next stage of development of the C-Pulse," said Marsh.