Hepion Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:HEPA) has partnered with Applied Pharmaceutical Innovation (API) to expand its research capabilities and further characterize its lead candidate, CRV431.
API is an independent institute that launched out of the University of Alberta’s faculty of pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences that is focused on the growth and development of the Canadian pharmaceutical industry.
Hepion will immediately begin recruiting post-doctoral fellows (PDFs) to examine the development of NASH and fibrosis in animal imaging studies, and the effects of CRV431 in animal models.
“Now we will begin examining exactly what CRV431 is doing in organs of animals using state-of-the art imaging techniques,” Dr. Robert Foster, the company’s CEO, said in a statement.
“These imaging studies will be enhanced by digging further into the mode of action of CRV431 on a molecular biology level and will complement our current activities conducted in our own research laboratories and clinical studies,” he added.
The PDF positions will be partially funded through a $6-million collaboration between API and Mitacs, a Canadian federal government industry matching program.
