MELBOURNE, Australia,
November 8, 2010 /PRNewswire/ --
Regenerative medicine company, Mesoblast Limited (ASX: MSB; USADR:
MBLTY), today announced that its United
States associate company, Angioblast Systems, has been
awarded US$1.2 million in grants
under the United States Government's Qualifying Therapeutic
Discovery Project (QTDP) program.
Angioblast received the maximum grant amount awarded for each of
the five projects that were eligible for QTDP funding. The
projects, selected jointly by the United States Treasury Department
and the Department of Health and Human Services, relate to the
company's adult stem cell products for congestive heart failure,
heart attack, oncology, eye and diabetes indications.
"We are pleased to have received this cash award, and will use
the funds to advance our objectives for product commercialization,"
said Mesoblast Chief Executive Professor Silviu Itescu.
The QTDP program was enacted as part of the Patient Protection
and Affordable Care Act of 2010 to provide tax credits to eligible
companies in order to encourage investments in new therapies for
prevention or treatment of acute and chronic diseases. Companies,
such as Angioblast Systems, that cannot currently use a tax credit
were allowed to apply for a cash grant in lieu of a tax credit.
To be eligible for the program, projects had to show reasonable
potential to result in new therapies to treat areas of unmet
medical need, prevent, detect, or treat chronic or acute disease
and conditions, or reduce long-term health care costs in
the United States. Preference was
given to projects that showed the greatest potential to create and
sustain (directly or indirectly) high quality, high-paying jobs in
the United States, and advance
United States competitiveness in
the fields of life, biological, and medical sciences.
"The award serves as further external recognition, in this case
by the United States Government, of the strength and promise of our
adult stem cell technology platform to deliver effective therapies
for a range of conditions currently in great medical need," said
Professor Itescu.
About Mesoblast
Mesoblast Limited (ASX: MSB; USADR: MBLTY) is a world leader in
commercializing biologic products for the broad field of
regenerative medicine. Mesoblast has the worldwide exclusive rights
for a series of patents and technologies developed over more than
10 years relating to the identification, extraction, culture and
uses of adult Mesenchymal Precursor Cells (MPCs).
http://www.mesoblast.com
Contact:
Julie Meldrum
Mesoblast Limited
+61-3-9639-6036
julie.meldrum@mesoblast.com
