Alveolus Bio has received a 3-year Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) FastTrack grant worth approximately $2.5 million from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for development of an inhaled biotherapeutic for the treatment of COPD, the company said.
The company’s AB1000 inhaled live biotherapeutic is based on technology developed at the University of Alabama Birmingham by company CEO Vivek Lal and Chief Medical Officer Amit Gaggar. According to Alveolus, the company “recently received favorable FDA feedback on the inhalation of live biotherapeutics” and AB1000 is also in development for other indications, including bronchopulmonary dysplasia, pulmonary fibrosis, neutrophilic asthma, pulmonary arterial hypertension, and cystic fibrosis.
Lal commented, “We are thrilled to have received this competitive funding award to support the development of our lead asset for COPD. This is key validation of our science, both current and planned, from the NIH. These funds will support first of its kind inhaled biotherapeutics development at our company laboratories in collaboration with labs at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). In addition, we are in the middle of raising a Series A equity financing round to advance our assets into clinical trials.”
Alveolus Chief Operating Officer Gaurav Mehta added, “This is a prime time to partner with Alveolus as our new modality and route of administration are a game changing combination. We are also open to strategic partnerships and other forms of business development to advance our novel inhaled drug platform across new applications and therapeutic axes.”
Read the Alveolus Bio press release.
