PEORIA, Ill. — August 27, 2026 — Midwest Bioprocessing Center, Inc. (MBC) announced today that it has received two Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS). The awards provide more than $600,000 in combined funding to advance two of MBC’s carbohydrate technology programs.
One award supports the development of novel bioorthogonal carbohydrates for use as research tools in drug discovery and biomedical research. Bioorthogonal chemistry provides researchers with tools for studying biological processes, including the roles carbohydrates play in cancer, cell signaling, and host-pathogen interactions. MBC’s program is focused on expanding access to new carbohydrate building blocks for these applications.
The second award supports improved access to pseudaminic acids, a class of specialized carbohydrates associated with several important bacterial pathogens. These compounds are of interest for research into bacterial pathogenesis and the development of antimicrobial, vaccine, and diagnostic strategies, but their limited availability remains a barrier to broader research.
“Pseudaminic acids are important tools for understanding how a number of significant bacterial pathogens function and cause disease, but their limited availability has made them difficult for researchers to study,” said Robert Turner, Ph.D., Principal Investigator on the project. “Our goal is to develop a practical way to make these compounds more readily available and help enable new research in infectious disease, antimicrobial development, vaccines, and diagnostics.”
“We are very pleased to receive these two awards from NIH,” said David Demirjian, Ph.D., President of Midwest Bioprocessing Center. “They allow us to apply MBC’s expertise in carbohydrate and bioprocessing technologies to two areas where access to specialized molecules has limited research and commercial development. Our objective is to develop practical technologies that can ultimately make these materials more broadly available.”
The NIH SBIR program supports U.S. small businesses developing innovative technologies with potential for commercialization and meaningful impact in biomedical research and healthcare.
About Midwest Bioprocessing Center
Midwest Bioprocessing Center, Inc., based in Peoria, Illinois, develops and commercializes biotechnology products and processes for specialty chemical and biomedical applications. MBC combines expertise in biocatalysis, fermentation, carbohydrate chemistry, and process development to advance technologies from research through commercialization.
