First-stage NIH award for Australia's Biota

Melbourne, Australia-based Biota has been awarded the first installment of $2.4 million of a total amount of up to $8.5 million by the USA's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, an institute of the National Institutes of Health. The award is to develop a class of long-acting neuraminidase inhibitors (LANI), called FLUNET.

The FLUNET compounds are dimeric inhibitors based on the molecular shape of zanamivir. The funding, over four years (subject to availability of NIH funds and satisfactory progress), will bring FLUNET through pre-clinical development and ready for the commencement of human clinical trials.

The FLUNET compounds provide an expansion to the LANI pipeline and also act as potential back-ups to the lead compound, CS-8958. Both FLUNET and CS-8958 are co-owned with Sankyo of Japan and belong to a second generation, or long-acting, group of LANIs. These offer potency and/or duration of action, which confers particular advantages for the pandemic influenza stockpiling market, says Biota.