Dundee-headquartered PhaSER Biomedical has been awarded a two-year $2.7 million grant from the Gates Foundation “to support the discovery of new treatments to some the world’s most neglected diseases.”
PhaSER Biomedical is located at the University of Dundee Innovation Hub.
The latest grant builds on a $2.3 million award PhaSER received in 2024 from the Gates Foundation.
During that period, PhaSER’s humanised 8HUM mouse model was applied across numerous disease programmes including tuberculosis, malaria, schistosomiasis and Chagas Disease.
PhaSER is expanding its team and is already in talks with investors to secure further funding to accelerate its growth.
PhaSER was formed in October 2022 to exploit a unique transgenic mouse model developed in a collaboration between Prof. Roland Wolf at University of Dundee, CXR biosciences, Taconic Farms and Scottish Enterprise.
The 8HUM mouse is “humanised” for the key pathways that govern how drugs are metabolised and eliminated from the body. This lets drug developers establish how a compound behaves in people and addresses major bottlenecks in drug development programmes, particularly due to mouse specific metabolic issues.
Professor Roland Wolf, Founder of PhaSER Biomedical, said: “We are really excited about the continuation of this collaboratory programme.
“Over the last two years we have seen how the humanised models provide human-relevant data that can rescue promising compounds, de-risk candidates and save valuable drug development time for the treatment diseases that affect millions of people.
“The renewal lets us build on our significant progress, with new models and capabilities shaped in close collaboration between PhaSER, Gates Foundation grantees and the University of Dundee.”
Chris Wardhaugh, CEO of PhaSER Biomedical, said: “The continued support from the Gates Foundation will support our work using humanised models in accelerating drug development.
“What makes the Gates Collaboratory work so well is partnership and we are thrilled to continue working side by side with world-class investigators, and with our colleagues at the Drug Discovery Unit at the University of Dundee, to design the right studies and turn complex data into clear decisions.
“This is the same philosophy that is proving so fruitful in our partnership with MHRA, involving clinicians, applied mathematicians, data analysts and pharmacokinetic scientists to combine data from our humanised models with clinical trial and real-world data, machine learning and computational modelling – true interdisciplinary teamwork.
“Human-relevant evidence earlier in development means better choices about which medicines to take forward, and faster progress for the people who need them most.”