NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Xechem International, Inc. (OTC BB: XKEM) announced today that it has received a SBIR grant in the amount of $473,181 from the National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NIH-NHLBI) to carry out the toxicity studies on the five-membered heterocyclic anti-sickling compound known as 5-HMF. Researchers from both Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), University of Pennsylvania are expected to participate in the 5-HMF trials.