“The nation’s scientific enterprise is being decimated.” That statement in an open letter “to the American people” signed by 1,800 members of the U.S. National Academies, is made concrete in a list of 709 NIH grants – and counting – that have been axed since President Donald Trump was inaugurated on Jan. 20. A grant tracker, based on information published by the Department of Health and Human Sciences, and self-reported terminations from scientists, includes 88 vaccine-related projects, 45 cancer research grants and 231 awards made for HIV research.
Acrivon Therapeutics Inc. provided updated phase II data for checkpoint kinase candidate ACR-368, highlighting promising response rates for biomarker-positive patients with endometrial cancer and raising the possibility of an accelerated pathway in the second-line setting.
Resilia Inc., dba Uresta, raised $3 million to launch its device to stop stress urinary incontinence in women. The flexible, insertable device braces the bladder and compresses the urethral passage to reduce or eliminate leakage during exercise, when coughing or laughing or when a woman just doesn’t want to worry about it. BDC Capital led the funding with a $1.5 million investment.