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Thomas M. Egan, M.D., M.Sc.

The North Carolina Biotechnology Center has made a $30,000 loan to X-In8 Biologicals Corp., a new biotechnology company founded by Thomas M. Egan, M.D., M.Sc., a faculty member in the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.   The company is a spinoff from work that Dr. Egan has done in his lab at UNC-Chapel Hill.

The company plans to use the loan to finalize its business plan and prepare to seek financial backing from investors and federal grants. Until now, Dr. Egan’s research has been supported by the National Institutes of Health, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and the UNC Lung Transplant Research Fund.

Dr. Egan is working to develop therapies that might thwart inflammation and related damage (ischemia reperfusion injury) that occurs as blood flow is restored to tissues after a period of restricted blood supply. The compounds he is developing might keep naturally occurring immune-system proteins from contributing to IRI, reducing tissue damage after organ transplants. The research also could be useful in treatment of patients who have had heart surgery, strokes and heart attacks.