SHUTTLE Pharmaceuticals, a privately held company, today announced it has been awarded a fast-track Phase I/II contract #HHSN261201400013C by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under its Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. The $ 1.62 million contract will fund the initial development of IPdR (5-iodo-2-pyrimidinone-2-deoxyribose), a prodrug of the radiation sensitizer IUdR (5-iodo-2-deoxyuridine). The contract is to determine the scientific merit, feasibility and potential for commercialization of oral IPdR for use as a radiation sensitizer for the treatment of rectal cancers. The NIH contract provides funds to cover a portion of the costs for initiating a Phase I trial in GI cancers and development of companion diagnostics for analyzing clinical specimens from Phase I patients.