Evestra, Inc. has received a grant from the Department of Defense (DoD) to develop a novel first-in-class LIF (Leukemia Inhibitory Factory) to treat triple negative breast cancer (TNBC).

The grant proposal, entitled “Targeted Inhibition of Leukemia Inhibitory Factor (LIF/LIFR) Axis for the treatment of triple-negative breast cancer” was submitted in collaboration with Dr. Ratna Vadlamudi from UT Health San Antonio. This is a three-year grant with Evestra receiving $960,000 while UT Health San Antonio will receive $761,298.

This is an incredible achievement for Evestra for a number of reasons, said Dr. Ze’ev Shaked, President and CEO of Evestra. “First, it is Evestra’s first home-grown drug discovery program in oncology to receive third-party validation. Second, it leverages Evestra’s medicinal chemistry.”