According to Boston-based CILA Therapeutics, the company has been awarded an SBIR Phase 1 grant worth almost $380,000 through the NIH’s National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) for pre-clinical development of the company’s CIL-Key (formerly CIL-0X) dry powder technology for inhaled delivery of RNA-loaded lipid nanoparticles.
The project includes toxicity and efficacy testing in mouse models with the goal of establishing proof of concept for clinical development of CIL-Key-based candidates for the treatment of lung diseases, beginning with primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD). According to CILA, the technology might also be applicable to inhaled vaccines in addition to inhaled RNA therapies.
CILA CEO Safia Rizvi describes the CIL-Key platform as “a transfection-enhancing platform. It includes dry powder inhaled microsphere of a set of unique molecules. The unique physicochemical properties remove pulmonary barriers – like opening a gate with a key to let RNA into the cell. The microspheres are designed penetrated deep into the lungs, and would serve as an enabler, or ‘key’ for any RNA-LNP.”
Rizvi commented, “This milestone provides strong validation of CILA’s scientific approach and vision to deliver practical, scalable and patient-centric solutions for some of the most formidable challenges in pulmonary medicine.”
Read the CILA Therapeutics press release
