Simulations Plus Subsidiary Gets NIH Grant

Dilisym Services Inc., a subsidiary of Simulations Plus Inc. in Lancaster, has been awarded a $1.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to build a software platform for modeling medication-induced kidney injury. Dilisym said Monday that the funds would be used to speed up the process of developing a software program called Renasym. Like the division’s other products, which include platforms for modeling liver damage and for showing how drugs are absorbed and distributed throughout the body, Renasym will be marketed to the pharmaceutical industry. “We are thrilled to see that the NIH supports our mission to help modernize drug development and reduce the time and costs associated with developing new therapies,” Dr. Brett Howell, Dilisym president, said in a statement. The money is being awarded in two separate phases, Dilisym said. Initial funding of $225,000 will be followed up by a second installment in early 2019, contingent upon the successful completion of Phase I. The award was provided to the Research Triangle Park, N.C.-based subsidiary through a Fast-Track Small Business Innovation Research grant given by the NIH’s National Institutes of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. It is the largest federal grant in Simulations Plus’ history, Chairman Walt Woltosz said in a statement, adding that it brings Simulations Plus closer to being able offer a fully integrated platform with the ability to model how a drug could impact several different key organ systems. Shares of Simulations Plus rose 50 cents, or about 2.75 percent, to close at $18.65 on the Nasdaq on Monday, a day when the markets overall were up slightly.