The cutting-edge research being performed by IU Spin Up company Anagin LLC to develop a novel, non-debilitative treatment of post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD) is the subject of a new promotional video produced by Indiana University.
The two-minute spot briefly explains Anagin’s mission, as well as what the Spin Up program does for promising companies whose innovative ideas offer commercial potential. It features comments from company co-founder Dr. Anantha Shekhar, newly appointed CEO Eric J. Messner and Joe Trebley, who manages the Spin Up program for the Indiana University Research and Technology Corp. It also includes footage of lab work conducted by Anagin project leader and scientist Melissa Haulcomb.
“To be able to really improve the lives of those patients who suffer from this or to find an effective treatment for this disease would be a dream come true for me. It would be a great sort of satisfaction to say that our research led to something this impactful in people’s lives.”
— Anagin co-founder Dr. Anantha Shekhar
Anagin develops drugs that block the target mechanism of PTSD without triggering others that cause crippling side effects such as agitation, irritability, sexual dysfunction, drowsiness, memory lapses, motor skill problems and addiction. In 2014, it received a $692,706 Phase I Small Business Innovation Research grant from the National Institutes of Health, $50,000 in matching funds from the state of Indiana and $25,000 as winner of the third annual BioCrossroads New Venture Competition held in conjunction with the 2014 Indiana Life Sciences Summit.
Anagin’s co-founders are Shekhar, a professor of psychiatry, pharmacology and neurobiology at the IU School of Medicine in Indianapolis, director of the Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute and head of research for the IU School of Medicine, and Yvonne Lai, a senior scientist with the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at IU Bloomington.
To view the new Anagin video, click here:
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