This award combined with an earlier phase 1 small business innovation research (SBIR) grant award brings total program funding to approximately $2.3 million. The grants will be used to further develop the company's small-interfering RNA (siRNA) therapeutics to prevent and treat influenza. A grant for additional program funding is still pending.
Nastech is developing siRNA therapeutics that specifically target conserved regions of the influenza viral genome. The company believes that targeting the conserved regions could enable a siRNA therapeutic to be effective against both current and future strains of the influenza virus. The company further believes that the ability to treat future strains is essential in stockpiling a treatment for rapid mobilization during an influenza pandemic.
The goals of the grant-funded research include the design of siRNAs against influenza viruses, testing in vivo activity of new siRNA delivery agents and evaluating viral drug resistance mechanisms.