Area biotech firms get research grants

The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation gave research grants to two Boston-area biotechnology companies this week to help advance a treatment for the rare genetic disease.

The foundation gave grants that could reach $12.5 million to Predix Pharmaceuticals Holdings Inc. of Woburn, a private drug company with several drug candidates in early-stage clinical trials. Predix will use its three-dimensional modeling technology to explore a defective protein that influences transport of salt and water across cell membranes in those afflicted with cystic fibrosis.

The company will also use its modeling technology to develop a drug that can act against the defective protein. Such a drug could ease the symptoms of those with cystic fibrosis. The company will retain the right to develop and commercialize any drugs that result from the second program.

Separately, the foundation awarded a grant worth up to $1.5 million to Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Cambridge to develop therapeutics to treat the disease. Alnylam is a leader in so-called RNA interference technology, in which drugs are used to block the instructions from disease-causing genes.

A genetic mutation leaves cystic fibrosis patients with a defective protein that makes it difficult for cells to regulate their levels of salt and water. That leads to numerous symptoms including thick, sticky mucus in the lungs and pancreas; difficulty digesting food; and serious lung infections. About 30,000 people have the disease in the United States, and half of those patients die before reaching their mid-30s, according to the foundation.

Jeffrey Krasner can be reached at krasner@globe.com.