NIH Award for StemCultures
In fiscal 2021, 16 local firms and institutions received $73.6 million from 152 NIH awards. That included more than $3.2 million for Coronavirus-related R&D at GE Research and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. The East Greenbush startup StemCultures received its first NIH award ($225,501), and the Regenerative Research Institute, also in East Greenbush, received its greatest amount in NIH awards ($6.4 million) since it started receiving them 13 years ago.
“The Regenerative Research Foundation and Neural Stem Cell institute (NSCI) receive NIH support for a new cell therapy of macular degeneration that is entered clinical trial in 2022, and for a new gene therapy that reduces the abnormal protein buildup underlying neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s diseases,” said Jeffrey Stern, StemCultures’ CEO and co-founder of the Regenerative Research Foundation and NSCI.
“NIH also supports the NSCI-affiliated company StemCultures launch of a new sustained-release growth factor product to improve control of cell research and manufacture. In future years, NSCI and StemCultures will continue to contribute to the strong biotechnology sector developing in the Capital Region,” Stern added.
Last year’s regional total fell short of its fiscal 2020’s recent peak of $81.5 million and fiscal 2019’s $76.9 million. At $12.2 million from 26 awards, RPI received the most NIH funding in the region. A dozen firms and institutions received award totals exceeding $1 million. They included:
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy: $12,152,769
Albany Medical College, Albany: $10,988,833
Kitware, Clifton Park: $7,877,116
University at Albany, Albany: $7,801,146
GE Research, Niskayuna: $6,880,191
Wadsworth Center: Menands $6,611,452
Regenerative Research Foundation, East Greenbush: $6,446,873
Curia (AMRI): Guilderland: $6,216,988
NYS Department of Health/Health Research Inc.: $3,241,311
Albany Research Institute, Albany: $1,833,731
iPACES, Clifton Park: $1,116,991
The NIH institute that awarded the most research funding in the Capital Region in fiscal 2021 was the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMN, $9.8 million). It was followed by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB, $9 million) and National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI, $8.1 million).