$1.1 million investment from the National Institutes of Health advances next generation tools for drug discovery in living cells. Montana Molecular, a privately-held company developing next generation tools for drug discovery in living cells, has been awarded a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The project is entitled “Fast and Accurate Tools for Measuring Fluorescence in Living Cells”. This Phase II SBIR will allow Montana Molecular to expand and improve its fluorescent cell-based assay technologies. In Phase I, the company earned accolades from the drug discovery industry including a place in the Journal of Laboratory Automation (JALA) “2013 JALA Ten” Breakthroughs in Innovation. Just recently, Montana Molecular’s technology was highlighted in the January 1, 2014 issue of Genetic Engineering News. “New advances in 3D cell culture and induced pluripotent stem cells are fueling interest in our technology as the industry moves toward drug discovery in cells that are relevant to disease.” said CEO and Principal Investigator, Anne Marie Quinn. “The ability to take our work to the next level with NIH funding is important because we can address the need for better tools to make drug discovery more productive and cost effective.” In addition to developing fluorescent biosensors that indicate when drugs activate cells in culture, Montana Molecular is working with McLaughlin Research Institute for Biomedical Sciences in Great Falls, Montana to develop transgenic mice that carry a gene encoding the sensor, so that fluorescent assays can be targeted to specific tissues and cell types in the animal. McLaughlin Institute is an independent, non-profit research facility that specializes in developing genetically-engineered mouse models to advance new cures for disease. The goal of this collaboration is to develop genetically engineered reporter mice for in-vivo studies of cell signaling in specific tissues that are affected by disease. Montana Molecular also receives support from the National Science Foundation and Montana SBIR Matching Funds to support the development of tools to detect G-Protein Coupled Receptor (GPCR) signals that impact a wide variety of diseases including heart disease, inflammation, and nervous system disorders.
