Texas University spin-out Pulmotect breathes in $3m grant from NIH.
The National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute has provided a $3m grant to Pulmotect, a spin-out of Texas University and Texas A&M Health Science Centre.
Pulmotect is developing an inhaled therapeutic designed to tackle respiratory infections in cancer patients with ineffective immune systems, and is now gearing up to begin its phase 1b/2a clinical studies later this year. It’s primary candidate, PUL-042, may also have the potential to tackle pathogens, influenza, respiratory infections, asthma, COPD, and cystic fibrosis.
The award is the sixth sum the US-based life sciences firm has secured under NIH’s Small Business Innovation Research, which also managed to secure $7.1m from the Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas three years ago. In total, the company has raised $15m in grant and equity funding so far.
Magnus Höök, co-founder of Pulmotect, said: “The lungs are the point of entry for many viruses and bacteria. Our multi-institutional research team hypothesised that activating the innate immune defence of the lungs might provide effective protection against a wide range of deadly pathogens.”
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