Therapeutics company Florica Therapeutics Inc reported on Tuesday the receipt of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant, valued at USD255,678, to study the Hypothalamus Stem Cell Exosomes for the treatment of COVID-19.

The company will use the Phase I grant to develop drugs that can modulate the immune response to prevent escalation of COVID-19 to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) under guidance of its CEO Dr Christine Ichim.

According to the company, it will test whether the exosome-based therapeutics produced from hypothalamus stem cells can abate the cytokine storm that is the leading cause of death in COVID-19 patients. The hypothalamus is crucial to secretion of cortisol and other immune-modulators that dampen the immune response following immune activation.

America's seed fund powered by NSF awards USD200m annually to startups and small businesses, transforming scientific discovery into products and services with commercial and societal impact. The NSF is an independent federal agency with a budget of about USD8.1bn that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering.