ENA Respiratory has announced the closing of a $22.4 million Series B financing, including a previously announced $5 million investment from the Flu Lab and participation by the Gates Foundation. The proceeds will be used to fund the Phase 2 POSITS trial of the company’s INNA-051 antiviral nasal powder, which will be conducted by researchers at the University of Maryland during the 2025/2026 flu season.
The company has previously received funding for development of INNA-051 from the US Department of Defense and from the COPD Foundation. In 2023, ENA Respiratory announced that a Phase 2 flu challenge study of a liquid formulation of INNA-051 had been “complicated” by pre-existing immunicty in a significant number of participants. The company initiated a Phase 1b trial of the dry powder formulation in August 2024.
ENA Respiratory CEO Christophe Demaison commented, “This funding marks a major milestone for ENA Respiratory as we advance INNA-051 into a community Phase 2 trial. With an international investor syndicate and ongoing support from our Australian investors, we are now in a strong position to evaluate the impact of our once-weekly powder nasal spray, which stimulates the body’s natural antiviral defenses, in a community setting and moves us closer to bringing it to the patients who need it most. This is an exciting step forward in our mission to deliver a first-of-its-kind preventative option for safeguarding vulnerable populations and has the potential to ease the global burden of respiratory viruses.”
Read the ENA Respiratory press release
