UNC Wilmington Receives Technology Enhancement Grant from the North Carolina Biotechnology Center for Natural Sea Product Safety Study

Posted On: May 12, 2009

The University of North Carolina Wilmington has received one of the first three Technology Enhancement Grants awarded by the North Carolina Biotechnology Center. This new grant program, introduced in 2008, is designed to fund research studies at North Carolina universities and other research institutions that will enhance the ability to license specific research discoveries and technologies that have the potential to be marketed commercially.

At UNC Wilmington, the grant will be used to conduct a preliminary safety study for β-naphthoyl brevetoxin, a modified natural product from the sea, at the Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute, one of the prominent contract research organizations conducting aerosol toxicity and efficacy. Developed through MARBIONC, a biotechnology-based economic development program administered through UNCW’s Center for Marine Science, this brevetoxin has potential applications in the treatment of cystic fibrosis and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder (COPD).

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