Tymora Analytical Operations receives $500,000 NSF Phase II grant for drug-development technology

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The National Science Foundation has awarded a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant to a life sciences company to develop a technology called pIMAGO that promotes the discovery of new disease targets in laboratory settings.

Tymora Analytical Operations received a two-year grant worth $500,000 that is a continuation of the Phase I grant it received in 2011. The company was founded by W. Andy Tao and Anton Iliuk. Tao is an associate professor in the Purdue University Department of Biochemistry, and Iliuk, the president and chief technology officer, is a former Purdue Realization and Entrepreneurship Postdoctoral Fellow.

"pIMAGO analyzes phosphorylation, a biological event related to many diseases such as cancer," Iliuk said. "We have created the technology to help researchers develop drug candidates to battle cancer, diabetes, and immune system and neurological disorders."

Iliuk said the NSF Phase II SBIR grant will help the company further develop pIMAGO.

"We can now test and optimize the technology to make it market-ready for effective drug screening," he said. "This funding, along with others we have received, will enable us to put in the effort necessary to develop the most optimal products, which in turn could result in more efficient cancer research."

In addition to the NSF grants, Tymora Analytical Operations received a $150,000 SBIR Phase I grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop an unrelated application for its pIMAGO platform. It also received an NIH Phase I grant worth $300,000 to optimize PolyMAC and $20,000 from the Purdue-administered Emerging Innovations Fund.

About Tymora Analytical Operations LLC

Tymora Analytical Operations was established in 2010 to provide new nanotechnology-based products to serve the R&D market in the life sciences. Tymora has developed a nanoscale platform technology - with PolyMAC and pIMAGO as the lead products - for unmet needs in analysis of protein phosphorylation that relates to the onset of numerous diseases, most notably cancer.

About Purdue Research Park

The Purdue Research Park has the largest university-affiliated business incubation complex in the country in four locations across Indiana. The parks are home to nearly 240 companies that employ more than 4,200 people and are located in West Lafayette, Merrillville, Indianapolis and New Albany.

Purdue Research Park contact:

Steve Martin, 765-588-3342, sgmartin@prf.org

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