Rhenovia to lead US$3.75m biosimulation project
Extends CNS biosimulation platform to study of epilepsy
Rhenovia Pharma, a French biopharmaceutical company specialising in technologies to optimise the development of drugs for Alzheimer’s and other diseases of the central and peripheral nervous system, is to lead the US$3.75m RHENEPI project.
The three-year project aims to develop and obtain experimental validation for an epilepsy biosimulation platform that can be used for the discovery of new anti-epileptic drugs.
Rhenovia will lead a consortium of two life science companies and two academic laboratories.
SynapCell, a French contract research organisation specialising in testing of antiepileptic drugs in in vivo animal models, will work alongside Rhenovia.
The two laboratories involved are the Institut de Génomique Fonctionnelle (IGF), Montpellier, under Dr Laurent Fagni, and the Grenoble Institut des Neurosciences (GIN), Grenoble, led by Dr Antoine Depaulis.
‘RHENEPI gives a significant boost to Rhenovia’s finances, allowing us to hire six more researchers, and grow the company,’ said Serge Bischoff, chief executive of Rhenovia Pharma. ‘What is more, it implies the expansion of our already operational platform, RHENOMS monosynapse, to a multiple synapse and integrated neuron platform.’
The project will allow Rhenovia to extend its service to most CNS diseases.
The French Ministry of Economy and Finance, Alsace BioValley and Lyon Biopôle awarded the contract. It will be financed in part by grants from the French state innovation fund, FUI (Fonds Unique Interministériel), the Alsace Region, the city of Mulhouse and its surrounding area, and the Rhone Alpes Region. Rhenovia and SynapCell will provide the balance of the required funds.
