Press Releases

Lowell, MA – Today, Congresswoman Lori Trahan (D-MA-03) announced two grants from the Department of Health and Human services which will be awarded to businesses in Concord and Sudbury.

The first grant comes in the award amount of $304,258 and is titled the “Discovery of TrkC agonist antibodies for hearing loss.” The grant recipient is Zebra Biologics, Inc. of Concord, Massachusetts. Zebra Biologics is a pre-clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and early development of novel antibody and other biologic drugs for major unmet clinical needs across multiple disease areas. This first grant comes from the office of National Institute on Deafness and Other Communications Disorders from Health and Human Services. This grant is awarded under program title Biological Research Related to Deafness and Communicative Disorders.

The second grant comes in the award amount of $299,845 and is titled “identification of first in class small molecule GFRAL blockers for the prevention and reversal of Cancer Anorexia-Cachexia.” The grant recipient is Byomass, Inc. of Sudbury, Massachusetts. BYOMass Inc. is a biotechnology company focused on developing therapeutics to modulate the central control of metabolism associated with aging and age-related chronic illnesses. BYOMass was founded by Dr. Margaret Jackson, who has led multiple teams and drug discovery efforts in her twenty-year career as a drug developer. This second grant comes from the National Cancer Institute. This grant is awarded under program title Cancer Treatment Research.

“I am proud to represent communities like Concord and Sudbury, which are leading the way on research and emerging technologies important to public health. These new grants will help improve the results produced from the underlying research initiatives that will lead to greater health outcomes. I would like to congratulate all those involved with securing this important funding.” said Representative Trahan.   

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