Dr. Luis Schang, Associate Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Alberta, wasn’t sure what to do. He had discovered an antiviral drug for Hepatitis C and other envelope viruses, but he ran out of funding to prove his discovery.

“It was too early for development funding but too late for research funding,” Dr. Schang said. “I had to prove my discovery before any company would fund me but I had to have a question to get research funding.”

Luckily Dr. Schang was working closely with Farid Foroud, TEC Edmonton’s TEC Transfer Officer, who was helping Schang to patent and market this drug.

There are no vaccines against Hepatitis C and currently over 170 million people are infected with it globally. Farid believed that this technology was not only vital for improving global health, but it was also extremely marketable from a commercialization perspective.

TEC Edmonton was able to help Dr. Schang apply for and receive a $30,000 block grant from Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research (AHFMR). The AHFMR block grant was initially used to show the effects of Dr. Schang’s antiviral against Herpes

Simplex Virus (HSV). The results were that it was effective against sexual transmission of HSV from animal to animal. Through Farid’s advice, gathered from the initial marketing efforts, talking to experts in the industry and a closer market assessment – Dr. Schang decided to pursue the most commercially interesting viral disease – Hepatitis C.

The remainder of the AHFMR block grant was used to demonstrate initial proof of concept. Dr. Schang discovered compounds that worked against Hepatitis C in animals and the successful completion of these experiments attracted a number of companies to this project. The AHFMR block grant enabled Dr. Schang’s group to generate data that showed that these compounds work against HSV and HCV and possibly other envelope viruses such as HIV, Pox, and Influenza. TEC Edmonton is currently participating in licensing negotiations with an antiviral company to license this great technology.