The National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently awarded $15.6 million in grants to support research into mucolytic agents discovered by Parion Sciences. The five-year grants were given to The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (UNC-CH) and The University of Colorado, Denver (UCD), and will allow the molecules to be eligible for Investigational New Drug (IND) applications.

UNC-CH will start pre-clinical tests on the mucolytic agents, to study its usage for both chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and cystic fibrosis (CF), using the first year’s $1.46 million worth of funds for the Centers for Advanced Diagnostics and Experimental Therapeutics (CADET), from a total of $7.7 million.

UCD received $1.52 million from a total of $7.9 million, for the first year of research, which will study the molecules’ function in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF). After the first five years of research, the funds may be renewed for two more years, under annual reviews.