The non-profit Access to Advanced Health Institute (formerly the Infectious Disease Research Institute) said that it has received an award of up to $3 million for development of a prototype antiviral nasal spray from the US Department of Defense (D0D). The news comes soon after AAHI announced that it had received an award of worth up to $9.9 million for development of an intranasal RNA vaccine against influenza from the DoD.
According to AAHI, the prototype nasal spray will be based on two adjuvants: SLA, a TLR4 agonist, and 3M-052, a TLR7/8 agonist. The organization said that the award is intended to support 18 months of preclinical development that will include studies of the nasal spray against Nipah virus and pandemic influenza with a goal of being able to advance quickly into Phase 1 clinical trials.
AAHI CEO Corey Casper said, “This winter we have seen our hospitals and clinics overwhelmed with patients suffering from a broad range of respiratory viruses. A nasal spray that is easy to self-administer, temperature stable, and broadly protective against multiple respiratory viruses could greatly reduce the burden of pandemic and endemic viruses around the globe.”
Read the AAHI press release.
