WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Kylin Therapeutics Inc. will expand its research into treating diseases including cancer and AIDS after receiving a $100,000 Phase I Small Business Innovation Research grant from the National Institutes of Health.

The company’s technology is based on a Purdue University discovery called pRNA that utilizes a natural process, known as RNA interference, to target and “turn off” disease-causing genes. Kylin is a developer of next-generation genetic therapeutics. The technology allows for more powerful and more effective treatments for a variety of diseases.

“With this award, we will be able to increase our research efforts on the platform, and continue the development of our lead therapeutic, an ovarian cancer treatment,” said Eric Davis, Kylin’s president and CEO. “These studies will move us closer to initiating the clinical trial process and help move this treatment to the public.”

Kylin researchers have worked with Purdue University researchers in the Bindley Bioscience Center since 2008 through a sponsored research agreement.

“Access to the research infrastructure and to high-end research facilities provides a distinct advantage for a company and is an opportunity to further develop Purdue’s valuable pRNA intellectual property,” said Richard Kuhn, director of the Bindley Bioscience Center and head of Purdue’s Department of Biological Sciences.

The SBIR grant is in addition to a $2 million round of funding led by In-vivo Ventures and Golden Pine Ventures. Kylin Therapeutics, located at the Purdue Research Park, also has received a $1.5 million grant from Indiana’s 21st Century Research and Technology Fund and $100,000 from Purdue’s Student-Managed Venture Fund.

About Kylin Therapeutics Inc.

Kylin Therapeutics (http://www.kylintherapeutics.com) Inc. is a biotechnology company based in the Purdue Research Park that employs an RNA nanoparticle technology platform called “pRNA.” The company uses RNA interference (RNAi) for treatment of many common diseases. This platform has potential to treat cancer and other diseases with RNA-based therapeutics.

About Bindley Bioscience Center

Bindley Bioscience Center, located in Purdue’s Discovery Park, is helping lead the university’s research efforts in cancer, infectious diseases, and functional and translational genomics and an expansion into development of technologies in genomics, proteomics and advanced analytical chemistry.

About Purdue Research Park

The 725-acre Purdue Research Park (http://www.purdueresearchpark.com) has the largest university-affiliated business incubation complex in the country. The park is home to more than 160 companies. About 100 of these firms are technology-related and another 39 are incubator businesses. The park is owned and managed by the Purdue Research Foundation, a private, nonprofit foundation created to assist Purdue University in the area of economic development.

Media contacts: Steve Martin, (765) 588-3342, sgmartin@prf.org

Phillip Fiorini, (765) 496-3133, pfiorini@purdue.edu

Source: Eric Davis, (765) 269-8030, edavis@kylintherpeutics.com