Tiba Biotech has joined hands with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) at the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the initiation of an EZ-BAA contract to develop groundbreaking therapeutics against influenza.

The USD 749,999 contract, awarded through a highly competitive review process, supports early-stage therapeutic platform development for the Flexible and Strategic Therapeutics (FASTx) program of BARDA. This initiative aims to advance cutting-edge therapeutic platform technologies, such as RNA-mediated interference (RNAi), which could be rapidly deployed in response to emerging viral threats.

Tiba Biotech's initial focus will be on developing a prototype RNAi-based therapeutic for H1N1 influenza that targets the highly conserved viral nucleoprotein and will be delivered via Tiba's RNABLTM platform.

"We are excited to receive this BARDA award, which will advance Tiba's innovative approach to combating influenza and other viral threats. We believe our technology has the potential to transform the landscape of RNA therapeutics," said Dr. Jasdave Chahal, Co-founder and Lead Investigator of the project.

This initiative is a natural extension of Tiba's ongoing work combating influenza pandemic threats, most notably in the form of a novel multi-antigen mRNA-based H7N9 flu vaccine funded under a Phase II SBIR award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and ongoing collaborations with the Collaborative Influenza Vaccine Innovation Centers (CIVICs). 

Tiba was also recently accepted into BLUE KNIGHT, a joint initiative between Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JLABS ('JLABS') and BARDA, with an aim to harness innovation to combat future known and unknown health threats.