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news.SIGA Technologies and privately held TransTech Pharma have received a $2.7 million challenge grant from the National Institutes of Health, to support the development of protease inhibitors to treat orthopoxvirus infections, such as smallpox and monkeypox.
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The grant award will be used to fund SIGA and TransTech Pharma’s joint research efforts directed toward the discovery, optimization, and advancement of lead drug candidates for smallpox and biowarfare defense.
“We are pleased to share in this award with TransTech,” said Dr Dennis Hruby, chief scientific officer of SIGA Technologies. “This support will make a significant impact on the acceleration of these important programs.”
As Dr Bernard Kasten, SIGA’s CEO, explained, smallpox is considered one of the most significant biowarfare threats as it is very easily transmitted, with high mortality rates, and the population is no longer vaccinated against it. Mass immunizations using the current live vaccine are problematic due to complications affecting some individuals, thus, at present, there is no treatment that can be safely administered to the general population.
SIGA is working to develop effective smallpox protease inhibitors to complement the company’s smallpox antiviral, SIGA-246, and fourth-generation vaccine program.
The company’s shares have risen by almost 4% on news of the NIH funding.