The US Department of Defense Chemical and Biological Defense Program (CBDP) has awarded Australian pharma company ENA Respiratory $4.38 million for development of a dry powder formulation of the company’s INNA-051 intranasal pegylated TLR2/6 agonist for protection against a wide range of respiratory viruses, ENA said. According to ENA, the 12-month project is expected to lead to an IND submission for the dry powder formulation followed by a Phase 1 bioequivalence study.
ENA Respiratory announced in June 2021 that it had raised A$32 million for development of INNA-051. In February 2022, the company announced that it had partnered with The COPD Foundation for development of the nasal spray and said that it planned to conduct Phase 2 studies of INNA-051 against both COVID-19 and influenza. The current announcement says that it recently conducted a Phase 2a influenza challenge study of the current formulation of INNA-051; results are yet to come.
ENA Respiratory CEO Christophe Demaison commented, “Populations at high risk of exposure or complications continue to be significantly affected by influenza, SARS-CoV-2, RSV and other respiratory viruses, driving increased hospitalizations and health care utilization. This agreement with the DoD recognizes the necessity of developing a broad-spectrum and fast-acting treatment to combat these debilitating viruses, and studying its use across a range of critical populations.”
The company points out that, “A dry powder formulation offers a number of advantages over the current spray solution formulation that will support deployment to distant or resource-limited settings and survival through the rigors of DoD logistics.”
Read the Ena Respiratory press release.
