Foundation expands Aurora CF contract

Under a five-year agreement with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, ABSC will identify, optimize and develop two to three candidate compounds to treat cystic fibrosis (CF). ABSC will receive $30 million in research funding and early milestones, and may receive an additional $16.9 million if the candidate compounds are approved by the FDA. The contract expands a 1999 agreement with the Foundation under which ABSC is developing cell-based screening assays for chloride secretion and sodium exchange in cells containing a mutant cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) ion channel gene (see BioCentury, Sept. 20, 1999). ...