Lumen Bioscience, a clinical-stage biotechnology company, has been awarded an $8.8 million project by the United States Department of Defense (DOD) to develop and test a revolutionary, fast-acting intranasal powder to treat and prevent both known and emerging viral respiratory infections. This exciting new project promises to be a major breakthrough in the fight against highly prevalent diseases.
The Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) and the Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense’s (JPEO-CBRND) have awarded a contract under their respective programs, Project Panacea and Vaccine Acceleration by Modular Progression, to propel the Joint Project Manager for Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Medical (JPM CBRN Medical) forward in its mission.
The military is in dire need of new treatments to protect warfighters from current and emerging viral threats. COL Matthew G. Clark, Joint Project Manager for CBRN Medical, believes a fast-acting, highly scalable, and easily transportable approach could be the answer. With the ability to store and transport quickly, this new treatment method could make all the difference in the fight against viruses.
Lumen is proud to announce the launch of a new project that unites two promising lines of research related to the treatment and prevention of COVID-19 and other diseases. Utilizing Lumen’s low-cost, highly scalable cGMP production platform and novel formulation technology, the project will develop and test an intranasal host-directed therapeutic – a human immune signaling protein known to be especially important in the body’s immune response to respiratory viral infections like influenza.
Human clinical trials have already demonstrated the safety and efficacy of this therapeutic when injected, and animal experiments have shown that intranasal dosing may be a safe and effective approach as well. The successful completion of this project will result in a prototype shelf-stable, inexpensive, self-administered product candidate ready for human trials.
Lumen’s EVP of Production and Development, Craig Behnke, is leading a project to develop a therapeutic treatment for COVID-19 and other respiratory viral infections such as influenza. The current injection formulation, however, limits stability, increases costs, and impedes distribution and administration.
If successful, this new product could provide an important new option for influenza and COVID-19 patients, particularly those with limited access to healthcare services, and be a valuable addition to America’s pandemic preparedness toolkit.
About Lumen
Lumen Bioscience is revolutionizing the biologics industry with an innovative drug development and manufacturing platform. It is using this platform to create biologic drug candidates that can effectively treat highly prevalent diseases, many of which currently lack any real treatment.
Its clinical pipeline includes investigational biologics for C. difficile infection, COVID-19, cardiometabolic disease, inflammatory bowel disease, norovirus, and traveler’s diarrhea – all made with the promise of increased speed, mass-market scale, and drastically reduced costs.