Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham have received two grants for $465,000 and $2.9 million, respectively.
The grants, which went to researchers from the Marnix E. Heersink School of Medicine Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, are small-business technology transfer grants from the National Institutes of Health.
The grants will continue the development of non-gas-tank-based devices for the delivery of inhaled nitric oxide, also known as iNO, for the treatment of pulmonary hypertension in infants, and pulmonary hypertension and right heart failure during and after cardiac surgery.
“Currently, nitric oxide is delivered in large, cumbersome tanks, which can be quite expensive,” said Nagababu Enika, an assistant professor at UAB. “Our innovative idea for addressing this problem is to synthesize the medical grade NO at the patient bedside and deliver it directly. Our grant will be used to simplify the iNO technology and allow for the development of portable delivery systems to reach a broader patient population to use wherever and whenever it is needed.”
Enika and Dr. Dan E. Berkowitz, the Alfred Habeeb Professor and chair of the Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, developed a prototype device with a Phase 1 small-business technology transfer grant from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute in 2022. After the development of the prototype, the authors created a startup company named iNOvodel, which stands for inhaled nitric oxide novel delivery. They created this company with Gary Lessing, the current CEO of iNOvodel and an experienced life sciences partner, and applied for a follow-up Phase 2 STTR NHLBI grant.
They worked with the Bill L. Harbert Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship to license this technology. This new grant will be used to advance the development of a full-scale family of devices for iNO delivery to use in health care facilities and home care, as well as a miniaturized device for chronic use.
“These devices will revolutionize the way nitric oxide is delivered to patients with pulmonary hypertension,” Berkowitz said. “These devices will not only save lives, but also improve the quality of life for those affected by this condition.”
Nitric oxide is a gas that helps dilate the blood vessels to increase blood flow to organs. It is vital to lung health in patients with PH because it regulates blood circulation, inflammation, blood vessel growth, injury repair and antimicrobial activities, according to a release. A deficiency in nitric oxide can cause pulmonary diseases.
However, only a limited number of patients can access this treatment option because the current delivery option is complex, expensive and available only at established medical centers. For current iNO therapies, nitric oxide is synthesized and purified at the manufacturer’s site. The nitric oxide gas is diluted in an inert gas and then compressed into large tanks before being delivered to medical facilities.
