A Covington-based pharmaceutical company received a $2.9 million grant from the National Cancer Institute.
Bexion Pharmaceuticals, a 7-year-old company in Covington, will use the grant to help advance a potential breakthrough drug that holds promise for fighting pancreatic cancer and certain brain tumors, two of the most devastating forms of cancer and among the most difficult to treat. The grant also provides a powerful validation for the company, and the region’s ability to create and grow startups that might make a global impact. The drug has shown early results in causing cancer cells to destroy themselves while leaving healthy cells unharmed in animal testing, and can now move on to phase 1 human trials, which will start early next year.
Cincinnati hosted a “PurpleStride 5k” walk last month, which raised money for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. Former GCADA President Ken Fallhaber, a pancreatic cancer survivor, had a team at the event, and they the top fundraising team at the event, raising $7900. The event raised over $174,000 for pancreatic cancer research.
Pancreatic cancer is the most under-funded, under-recognized, and least studied form of all major cancers. But Bexion Pharmaceuticals may have a solution. However, even if everything goes perfectly in human trials, it will still be many years before the product would be on the market. But even with the long wait, this grant brings huge promise to the Greater Cincinnati area.
