The grants are part of a $5 million, "emergency" Covid round that is aimed at fast-tracking promising research.
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| Song Li (left) and Vaithilingaraja Arumugaswami, UCLA photos |
received $350,000 for work dealing with Berzosertib, a therapy targeting viral replication and damage in lung stem cells.
Arumugaswami said in a UCLA news release,
"Clinical trials have shown that Berzosertib blocks the DNA repair pathway in cancer cells, but has no effects on normal, healthy cells. For this reason, we think this drug shows great promise for treating COVID-19 patients and could be rapidly and safely be deployed in the clinic."
Song Li received $150,000 to help develop an injectable biomaterial that can induce the formation of T memory stem cells, which are important in generating an immune response.
Li said that if his work is successful, it could have applications well beyond Covid-19. A summary of reviewer comment on his application (DISC2COVID) can be found here.
Directors of the agency rejected six applications in their action on Friday. Summaries of all application reviews can be found here.
The stem cell agency, which is running out cash, is now supporting 11 Covid-19 projects, including two clinical trials. The fast-track Covid round is accepting applications every two weeks. More awards are expected when agency directors meet again on June 26.
The agenda at that time will include other matters such as the budget for the coming 12 months, including a wind-down schedule should voters reject a $5.5 billion ballot measure to refinance the agency, which is running out of money.
Click on this sentence to see the agency's press release on last week's awards.
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