|
Contact: Portfolio Director: Jane Larkindale, Ph.D. (520) 615- 6702 jlarkindale@mdavp.org
MDA Venture Philanthropy (MVP) does not provide traditional grants to companies, but rather makes targeted investments in drug development for neuromuscular disease. Projects will be milestone-driven, contract-mediated and a return on investment will be negotiated for MVP. MVP utilizes a professional diligence process and is committed to a 16 week turn-around on investment decisions.
Investment Profile: MVP invests in small pharmaceutical and biotech companies developing treatments and therapies for neuromuscular diseases. Companies may be public or private, and MVP does not discriminate between U.S. and international companies. MVP may also choose to fund academic investigators doing appropriate studies. MVP seeks to apply funding where it will achieve the greatest leverage to increase the number of effective drugs in development for neuromuscular diseases. As such, well-financed projects that will proceed without MVP investment may not be selected for funding. It has operating capital in 2009 of approximately $10 million.
Therapeutic Areas: MVP has four rolling investment funds:
- Duchenne/Becker muscular dystrophy (DMD/BMD)
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease)
- Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA)
- Other neuromuscular diseases (Friedreich’s ataxia, other muscular dystrophies, metabolic diseases of muscle, myasthenia gravis, etc.)
Stage of Research: MVP funds projects from drug screening through Phase II trials. Projects may include screening, optimization, proof-of-principle in model animal, toxicology, manufacturing and scale-up, pre-IND, Phase I or early Phase II trials.
Size and Time Frame of Investment: MVP will fund investments in the range of $500,000 - $6M, depending on the stage of research. Funding will generally be for 1-3 years, but follow-on investment may be negotiated if all milestones are met and the project moves into later phases of development. MVP acknowledges that drug development is a long process, and that the horizon for drug approval may be up to ten years after MVP investment.
-Research and Development ($500,000)
-Preclinical ($500,000-$2M)
-Early Clinical (Phase I/II) ($1M-$6M)
If you are interested in investment by MVP, please contact Jane Larkindale at jlarkindale@mdavp.org to discuss your fit with the MVP portfolios. The MVP Contact Form constitutes a letter of intent to apply for funding.
|
