The grant was awarded to support research that demonstrates penetration of Kala’s MPPs into bacterial biofilms, which enables direct, constant delivery of antibiotics to the bacteria.
Cystic Fibrosis Center director Samuel Moskowitz will prepare the bacterial biofilms at Massachusetts General Hospital in addition to performing biofilm penetration measurements.
Kala CEO Guillaume Pfefer said the collaboration with Cystic Fibrosis Foundation will help discover treatments targeting respiratory infections in people with cystic fibrosis.
"Our internal drug development efforts at Kala are initially focused on innovative ophthalmic treatments, while we continue to leverage our platform to simultaneously pursue collaborations with organizations, such as the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, to treat a broad range of other diseases where mucosal barriers have previously limited therapeutic efficacy," Pfefer added.