Ohr Pharmaceutical Inc., a developer of therapeutics for cancer cachexia, wet age-related macular degeneration, and oncology applications, announced today that it has been awarded $244,000 under the IRS Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Project (QTDP) program, which was created by Congress as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. The Company will use the grant to advance the development of its lead program, OHR/AVR 118 for the treatment of cancer cachexia, currently being investigated in a phase II trial. Eligibility for the grant requires that a project: have the potential to develop new treatments that address "unmet medical needs" or chronic and acute diseases, reduce long-term health care costs or represent a significant advance in finding a cure for cancer.
"We are delighted that the U.S. government has recognized the value and potential of OHR/AVR 118 as a treatment for cancer cachexia, a large unmet medical need," stated Dr. Irach B. Taraporewala, Ph.D., CEO of Ohr Pharmaceutical. "This grant will enable us to further the development of our program to help mitigate the wasting syndrome (cachexia) often found in late stage cancer patients. Cachexia not only causes considerable mortality, but also requires patients to have increased caregiver attention, hospitalizations, and nursing home/hospice care which all come with substantial costs. A safe and effective drug therapy to combat cachexia such as OHR/AVR118 would reduce long-term health care costs in the United States considerably."
About OHR/AVR 118: OHR/AVR118 is a "first-in-class" broad spectrum immunomodulator which addresses the uncontrolled release of detrimental cytokines seen in cancer patients with cachexia. The cytokine release is attributable to the cancer itself and is often exacerbated by concomitant chemotherapy drug regimens. OHR/AVR118 has previously been proven safe and effective in mitigating AIDS cachexia, and preliminary results in the current trials reported at the last annual meeting of the Society for Cachexia and Wasting Disorders in Barcelona have shown its promise in treating cancer cachexia.
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