Discovery Laboratories has received a Phase 2 Small Business Innovation Research Grant (SBIR) from the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) for development of aerosolized KL4 surfactant for the treatment of lung damage caused by radiation. The initial award of $1 million can be supplemented by an additional $2 million over the next 3 years. Discovery Labs will conduct the research in conjunction with the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine.
Discovery Labs President and CEO John G. Cooper commented, “While we remain focused on respiratory distress syndrome in premature infants, we believe that our proprietary KL4 surfactant also has the potential to address a number of other lung diseases and complications, including certain acute lung injuries. The NIH has previously provided Discovery Labs funding to assess these potential opportunities, and based on the encouraging results of that preliminary work, has provided additional funding to continue research in this area. Radiation-induced pulmonary injury is a common and complicated manifestation of radiation exposure, and we look forward to developing data that may help define the role of KL4 surfactant in protecting irradiated lungs.”
Read the Discovery Labs press release.
