Grant investigators: Chris Somerville and Heather Youngs
This page was reviewed but not written by the grant investigators. Representatives of VasoRX reviewed this page prior to publication.
The Open Philanthropy Project recommended an investment of $5,400,000 in VasoRX to test a new therapy for vascular diseases such as atherosclerosis and pulmonary hypertension. Atherosclerosis, a disease in which arteries narrow due to the buildup of plaque, leads to heart attacks and strokes and is one of the leading causes of death in the developed world. Researchers have been able to suppress a protein believed to contribute to atherosclerosis in mice. This seed-stage investment is intended to support additional research and development in the hopes that VasoRx can subsequently raise additional funds from other investors to conduct a clinical trial of the therapy in humans.
This falls within our interest in funding scientific research.
Update: In January 2019 and October 2019, we added funding to the original award amount. The “grant amount” above has been updated to reflect this.