Kineta's next generation antiviral program receives $2.8 million NIH SBIR grant

Kineta, Inc. announced today its next generation antiviral program has received a 2.8 million dollar grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Awarded under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, the prestigious phase two grant will provide on-going support for Kineta's work on a new class of antiviral drugs targeting an array of global, deadly viruses.

"This award validates the tremendous progress Kineta scientists have made toward developing high priority, broad based, antiviral therapeutics. We have rapidly discovered five families of drug candidates that activate an essential innate immune pathway. With this new infusion of support from the NIH, we will advance at least one lead drug candidate for clinical development," said Charles L. Magness, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer.

Kineta's program, Agonists of the Retinoic Acid Inducible Gene I (RIG-I) Innate Immune Pathway, focuses on targeting RNA viruses including: hepatitis C, influenza, West Nile virus, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), Dengue fever and the common cold. Currently treatment of these conditions is severely limited by of the lack of effective drugs available. RIG-I is a molecular "on/off" switch that triggers the human body's innate immune defenses against viruses. Kineta's novel research has received support and praise from U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell among other thought leaders.

Kineta scientists plan to advance their work first by optimizing the lead drug candidates, then further characterizing their mechanisms of action and continuing pre-clinical studies necessary to select lead candidates. The company anticipates selecting the first lead drug candidate in 2012.