CET Life Sciences Center Tenants Receive Federal Small Business Grant Awards

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Oct. 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Cumberland Emerging Technologies, Inc. (CET) today announced that three tenants at its Nashville Life Sciences Center have been awarded $3.2 million in federal small business grants. The grantees, which include Jericho Sciences LLC, and a research alliance comprised of Cumberland Pharmaceuticals Inc., CET, and the University of Virginia, will use the funding to support their work in developing new medical therapies.

Jericho Sciences LLC was awarded grant funding from The National Institutes of Mental Health. The company and its co-investigators at the University of North Carolina and North Carolina State University will use the two-year, Small Business Innovation Research grant to explore a small molecule that is useful in treating central nervous system consequences of HIV infection.

The National Institutes of Health awarded a grant in support of a joint research program involving Cumberland Pharmaceuticals Inc., CET, and scientists at the University of Virginia. The Small Business Technology Transfer Research grant will support the program's goal of advancing the development of a novel therapy for treating anemia associated with chronic inflammatory disease.

In September 2011, CET partnered with the University of Virginia Patent Foundation to advance this early-stage technology and create a new drug product for clinical use. Under the agreement, Cumberland is providing resources and support in the areas of project and grants management, pre-formulation, and product and regulatory development.

"We are pleased the government has recognized the important research being conducted at the CET Life Sciences Center with these grants," said A.J. Kazimi, Chief Executive Officer of Cumberland Pharmaceuticals and CET. "CET was founded to bridge the gap between the research laboratory and the commercial marketplace. This funding will allow each of these programs the opportunity to continue their promising research and support their efforts to bring important new therapies to patients who will benefit."

About Cumberland Emerging Technologies Inc.

Cumberland Emerging Technologies Inc. (CET) is a joint initiative between Vanderbilt University, Cumberland Pharmaceuticals Inc., and the Tennessee Technology Development Corporation (TTDC), also known as Launch Tennessee.  The mission of CET is to advance biomedical technologies and products conceived at academic research centers towards the commercial marketplace.  CET manages the development and commercialization process for select projects, and provides critical expertise on intellectual property, regulatory, manufacturing, and market issues that are critical to successful new biomedical products.

CET has sponsored Middle Tennessee's first life sciences incubator located in downtown Nashville adjacent to the Union Station Hotel and the Frist Visual Arts Center.  This Life Sciences Center provides laboratory space, equipment and other support to a growing number of tenants who specialize in medical products and research advancements.  For more information, visit www.CET-Fund.com.

SOURCE Cumberland Emerging Technologies, Inc.