A Kansas University startup company is getting a $300,000 federal contract to fund further study of a drug delivery method hoped to help combat cancer.

HylaPharm, founded in 2010 by two KU staffers, received a Small Business Innovation Research, or SBIR, contract issued by the National Cancer Institute, KU announced Monday. The SBIR funding will enable HylaPharm’s work on repurposing an existing drug for the treatment of breast cancer.

HylaPharm is developing technology to deliver chemotherapy drugs to cancer cells directly while reducing side effects to patients, according to KU’s announcement. Its scientists have attached cancer-fighting drugs to nano-sized particles of hyaluronan, a naturally occurring polymer in the body.

The drug has effectively treated pet dogs diagnosed with oral cancer, according to KU. The new project specifically seeks to combat the aggressive and hard-to-treat triple negative breast cancer, and after a year of study, the company will be eligible to apply for a second phase of SBIR funding, designed to advance the project to human trials.

HylaPharm’s president and CEO is Daniel Aires, division director of dermatology at KU Medical Center. The company’s chief science officer is pharmaceutical chemist Laird Forrest, who works on the faculty at KU’s Lawrence campus.

Previously, the Journal-World wrote about HylaPharm in March 2014, when it became the first KU company to be invited to the Angel Capital Association Summit Innovation Showcase in Washington, D.C.

The company, one of 34 KU startup companies according to the university, is located in the Bioscience & Biotechnology Business Center.