SK Bioscience announced that it has partnered with nonprofit research organization IAVI on development of an antiviral nasal spray based on a protein developed by David Baker at the University of Washington. The company noted that it will get $2.2 million out of a grant by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to IAVI for the project. The Gates Foundation also supported research by Baker and others on intranasal minibinder proteins that have been shown to neutralize all variants of SARS-CoV-2.
According to the SK Bioscience, the funding is being used to prepare for production of the nasal spray, and process development is already underway. The company also said that it plans to work with IAVI and the university to develop intranasal therapies based on the same platform for prevention and treatment of additional respiratory viruses.
SK Bioscience CEO Jae-yong Ahn commented, “If we secure differentiated antiviral prevention and treatment from this research, it could be possible to quickly respond to continuously evolving respiratory viruses. Our efforts to develop new medicines to prevent and treat life threatening infectious viruses are leading to various international cooperation, and through this, SK Bioscience will leap forward as a global pharmaceutical company.”
Read the SK Bioscience press release.
