BioCryst Pharmaceuticals has received another $5.5 million under a federal contract for the development of a potential treatment to combat hemorrhagic fever viruses such as Ebola.
BioCryst is getting the money under a contract with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), and to date it has been paid $35.4 million.
The total contract is worth up to $39.5 million.
To date, the BioCryst (NASDAQ:BCRX) treatment called BCX4430 is being tested in non-human primates for effectiveness.
“With these additional funds, BioCryst will continue to evaluate dosing schedules, duration of treatment and delayed dosing from time of infection to support the selection of safe and effective human doses,” said Dr. William P. Sheridan, Chief Medical Officer at BioCryst, in a statement.
“This additional support from NIAID emphasizes the importance of advancing the development of treatment options for deadly emerging infectious diseases such as Ebola virus and Marburg virus.”
BCX4430 also is being tested as a potential treatment for filoviruses.
In nonclinical studies it has shown “survival benefits” against Ebola, Marburg, Yellow Fever and Zika viruses, according to BioCryst.
The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) awarded BioCryst a contract worth up to $36.2 million last year for the filoviruses program.
What is BCX4430?
Source: BioCryst
BCX4430 is an RNA dependent-RNA polymerase inhibitor that has demonstrated broad-spectrum activity in vitro against more than 20 RNA viruses in nine different families, including filoviruses, togaviruses, bunyaviruses, arenaviruses, paramyxoviruses, coronaviruses and flaviviruses. BioCryst is developing BCX4430 in collaboration with NIAID and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), following the Animal Rule regulatory pathway.
