Biotech, startups, FDA

Stromedix Drug Gets Orphan Status

Rebecca Zacks 8/12/08

Cambridge, MA-based Stromedix, a startup formed around technology licensed from Biogen Idec (NASDAQ: BIIB), announced today that its lead candidate—a treatment for chronic allograft nephropathy, a leading cause of kidney-transplant failure—was granted orphan-drug status by the FDA. Stromedix is pursuing a large, untapped market for drugs that target fibrosis, a cellular process that is the ultimate cause of almost all types of organ failure. I profiled Stromedix’s intriguing strategy and corporate history in April.