PanThera awarded $5.1M contract
The STI Industries subsidiary will develop an anti-anthrax drug
PanThera Biopharma said yesterday it has won a $5.1 million contract for bioterrorism research.
The Honolulu-based subsidiary of technology company STI Industries has been awarded a five-year contract from the National Institutes of Health, a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to develop a therapeutic drug for weaponized anthrax exposure.
The first year of the agreement will add $830,000 to PanThera's program targeting a key toxin involved in anthrax disease.
The company's research and development efforts for anthrax have received nearly $2.5 million, or 75 percent, in federal funding, and $900,000, or 25 percent, from non-governmental sources during the last two years.
The $2.5 million the company has received in federal funding includes $1.7 million awarded to date via another NIH grant.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, anthrax is an infectious disease caused by a spore-forming bacterium. Anthrax most commonly occurs in animals, but it also can occur in humans when they are exposed via inhalation and skin contact. Antibiotics are used to treat all types of anthrax but to be effective, treatment must be started early. If left untreated, the disease can be fatal.
"Protecting our nation from terrorist attacks is of utmost importance to me," U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye said in a statement. "This endeavor, developed and perfected in Hawaii, will be part of a layered approach to prepare our nation for combating biological warfare."
PanThera, which also is developing oral drugs to treat West Nile virus and Dengue Fever, said it is targeting the BioShield Program's Strategic National Stockpile for its oral therapeutic drug. The $5.6 billion BioShield Program, enacted in July 2004, was designed to speed the development of drugs and vaccines to counter the effects of biological, chemical, nuclear, and radiological agents, said Will Alameida, president and chief executive of PanThera.
"Our objective is to develop oral drugs that do not require refrigeration and can be administered safely and rapidly if needed to protect our nation and our allies," he said.