The Iowa State University Startup Factory announced that one of cohort companies, PK Biosciences Corp., has been awarded a $224,912 Phase I Small Business Innovation Research grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke of the National Institutes of Health. The NIH award will allow PK Bio to continue its research and preclinical development of a novel treatment to slow down Parkinson’s disease progression. “Existing approaches to Parkinson’s disease treatment focus on alleviating motor symptoms caused by the progressive loss of certain nerve cells, called dopaminergic neurons, in the brain,” said Dr. Anumantha Kanthasamy, PK Bio’s president and CEO. “PK Bio is examining the mechanism which contributes to neurodegenerative processes in Parkinson’s, and is developing therapeutics to treat the disorder, rather than just treating symptoms.”