ViraCyte Secures NIH, FDA Grants to Develop, Test T-Cell Immunotherapies

ViraCyte has secured $3.75 million in contracts from the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration to continue development work on cellular immunotherapies designed to protect stem cell transplant recipients from severe infections.

NIH’s National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute awarded ViraCyte a $3 million contract to advance clinical development of a T-cell immunotherapy for BK virus, the company said Wednesday.

NHLBI granted the Phase IIB small market award under the agency’s Small Business Innovation Research program.

The company will also launch a Phase I clinical trial to assess the effectiveness and safety of Viralym-A through a $750,000 Orphan Products Clinical Trials grant from the FDA’s Office of Orphan Product Development.

“We are very pleased the NIH NHLBI and FDA OOPD have recognized ViraCyte’s commitment to addressing critical unmet medical needs,” said Ann Leen, co-founder and chief scientific officer of ViraCyte.