Avidimer Therapeutics is working on some promising new technology, promising enough to illicit a recent $2.4 million investment from Michigan's 21st Century Jobs Fund.

That investment is expected to help pay for more clinical trials for the pharmaceutical company as it aims to commercializes its first product in 2014-15. The 3-year-old company employs about five people today along with another half a dozen independent contractors.

Those numbers are expected to grow as the firm conducts more clinical trials. Eight new jobs are expected to be created by the $2.4 million investment and accompanying $5 million in matching funds.

"We're looking at adding several more people to round out our management team and clinical staff within the next year or so," says David Repp, vice president of business operations for Avidimer Therapeutics.

Avidimer Therapeutics lead product is a compound that targets diseases while minimizing collateral damage to healthy tissues. Two of the biggest diseases it's looking at targeting are rheumatoid arthritis and cancer.

The Ann Arbor-based firm has already done the pre-clinical trial work for the cancer aspect and plans to do so with the rheumatoid arthritis soon. A previous 21st Century Jobs Fund grant of $2.25 million helped pay for the pre-clinical work for the cancer aspect of the compound.

Source: David Repp, vice president of business operations for Avidimer Therapeutics
Writer: Jon Zemke