$2.9 Million
Received From Wellcome for DNA-Based Delivery of Antiviral
Antibodies for Zika and Influenza Prevention, Focusing on
Preclinical Development of a Potent Anti-Zika Antibody and
Optimizing Antibody Cocktail Delivery
$749,000
Contract from the BARDA Flexible and Strategic Therapeutics (FASTx)
Program for DNA-Based Delivery of Anti-Influenza Antibodies to
Large Animals, With an Emphasis on Understanding Correlates of
Species Translation
NEW
YORK, July 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- RenBio, a
privately-held, preclinical biotechnology company leveraging its
novel, proprietary MYO (Make Your Own) Technology™ platform to
deliver next-generation antibody and protein medicines in the form
of DNA therapeutics, today announced that it has received funding
to evaluate DNA-based delivery of antiviral antibodies for Zika and
influenza prevention. The funding includes a $2.9 million award from Wellcome
(https://wellcome.org/grant-funding) and a $749,000 contract award wholly supported by
federal funds from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development
Authority (BARDA), part of the Department of Health and Human
Services (HHS); Administration for Strategic Preparedness and
Response within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
under contract number 75A50124C00017
(https://medicalcountermeasures.gov/barda/cbrn/antivirals-antitoxins/fastx).
The BARDA award is part of the Flexible and Strategic
Therapeutics (FASTx) Program, which seeks to advance a robust
arsenal of flexible and adaptable therapeutic platforms to
efficiently mitigate the impact of viral diseases and safeguard
public health in the face of unpredictable viral threats.
"These two awards are significant and boost the potential of our
proprietary MYO Technology platform to deliver next-generation DNA
medicines for infectious disease prevention," stated Rachel A. Liberatore, Ph.D., President and Chief
Scientific Officer of RenBio. "The work funded by Wellcome will
complement our previously announced grant as a sub-awardee of
Vanderbilt University Medical Center,
under the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)'s
Pandemic Prevention Platform (P3) program. Together, in
collaboration with our academic partners, we will complete
IND-enabling preclinical activities to support the development of a
potent anti-Zika antibody. In addition, we will evaluate the
potential for the DNA-based delivery of cocktails of anti-influenza
antibodies to increase the breadth of protection from disease.
"Likewise, the ability to collaborate with BARDA, for the first
time, is a milestone achievement for RenBio. The contract will
allow us to address some of the technical hurdles to scaling our
disruptive MYO Technology, and will help to expand our platform
with respect to the range of antibodies that can be delivered,
using the delivery of anti-influenza antibodies as
proof-of-concept. Importantly, the delivery of a variety of
antibodies targeting seasonal and highly pathogenic influenza
viruses will address the need to respond rapidly to diverse
viruses."
About MYO Technology™
The MYO Technology™ platform, for intramuscular electroporation
of plasmid DNA, is built to overcome the challenges inherent in
typical antibody and protein therapeutic development,
manufacturing, and delivery by providing patients with a DNA
"bioblueprint" that empowers them to produce their own therapeutic
antibodies or proteins. The technology utilizes muscle cells
(myocytes), converting them into in vivo bioreactors to effectively
produce the desired therapeutic within the patient's own body,
potentially leading to radically new, longer lasting therapies,
reducing the need for cold-chain storage, and resulting in shorter
manufacturing times.
About RenBio
RenBio is a privately-held preclinical biotechnology company
founded by Columbia University
Professors David D. Ho, M.D. and
Yaoxing Huang, Ph.D. The Company's
novel, next-generation, proprietary nucleic acid therapeutics
platform, called MYO (Make Your Own) Technology™, is designed to
deliver DNA medicines encoding for antibody and protein
therapeutics. The rapid plug-and-play features of the MYO
Technology are intended to overcome antibody and protein
therapeutic limitations in administration, duration of efficacy,
dosing frequency, and cold-chain restrictions, and can rapidly flex
to prevent or treat a broad range of diseases. To date, the company
has raised $28.0 million in Seed and
Series A financing and has received additional funding from the
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Bill and
Melinda Gates Foundation, the New York
State Biodefense Commercialization Fund, Wellcome, and the
Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA). For
more information, visit: https://www.renbio.com/.
Approved for Public Release by DARPA, Distribution
Unlimited
Contact:
Paula
Schwartz
Rx Communications Group, LLC
917-633-7790
pschwartz@rxir.com
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SOURCE RenBio