NIH awards United Therapeutics $45 million contract to develop potential oral treatment for viruses

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded United Therapeutics Corporation a contract for up to $45 million over five years "to help develop a potential oral treatment for viruses like influenza and the mosquito-borne tropical fever dengue," the Associated Press/Washington Post reports (10/10). The funding comes from NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and will be used "for studies directed at the development of a broad-spectrum antiviral drug based on [United Therapeutics'] glycobiology antiviral platform," according to a press release from United Therapeutics, which adds, "Funding will support the development of a candidate compound through preclinical safety and efficacy studies toward potential clinical trials against dengue" (10/10).