Fayetteville’s SFC Fluidics has received a Phase 1 SBIR grant from the National Institutes of Health for development of a wireless, implantable, rapid dosing delivery system for small animal research.
The drug delivery pump, called the Min-ePump, will be used with lab rats in addiction and behavior research studies. The grant is for $175,003.
According to the company, key research areas that can benefit from untethered animal behavior models include substance abuse, mood disorders, schizophrenia, choice behavior, sleep behavior, stimulus response, anxiety, aggressive behavior, cognition, depression, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, aging disorders and management of chronic pain in humans and veterinary medicine in animals.
The miniaturized patch pump system will be implanted and tested in rats as a proof-of-concept.
“We are excited about broadening the application of our miniaturized patch pump system for research that can potentially help millions of people around the world who are struggling with social, mood and behavior disorders,” Forrest Payne, principal investigator for the project, said.
SFC Fluidics, located on the University of Arkansas’ Arkansas Research & Technology Park in Fayetteville, is a portfolio company of VIC Technology Venture Development.
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