This one-year Phase I Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) grant will fund the development of novel HIV entry drugs that overcome limitations of current therapies, the company said.
The National Institutes of Health SBIR grant mechanism is a peer-reviewed program that provides research support to discover and develop biomedical products for the treatment of unmet medical needs.
Juan Lama, founder and CEO of Retrovirox, said: “This award will allow us to advance efforts to develop novel HIV inhibitors. Unlike other virus entry blockers, these inhibitors are efficient against all HIV strains tested.
“RetroVirox inhibitors represent an entirely new class of antiretrovirals that block HIV replication through a novel mechanism. Our company is approaching similar strategies to develop treatments for other several important human pathogens, including hepatitis C virus.”