Lumen Bioscience a Seattle-based clinical-stage biotechnology company, announced on Thursday that it has received a new USD8.8m project funded by the US Department of Defense (DOD) for the development and testing of a prototype broad-spectrum, fast-acting intranasal powder for treatment and prevention of known and emerging viral respiratory infections.

The contract was awarded by the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) under its 'Project Panacea' and the Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense's (JPEO-CBRND) Joint Project Manager for Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Medical (JPM CBRN Medical), under its Vaccine Acceleration by Modular Progression program.

The funding will support development and testing of intranasal host-directed therapeutic using Lumen's low-cost, highly scalable cGMP production platform and novel formulation technology. The therapeutic is a human immune signalling protein known to be especially important in the body's immune response to respiratory viral infections like influenza. Human clinical trials by other groups have shown that the therapeutic, when injected, was safe and effective against COVID-19 and other diseases. Animal experiments by other researchers show that intranasal dosing may be a safe and effective approach for both treating and preventing influenza and COVID-19. The new Lumen project unites these two lines of research, as well as testing other CBRN threats of interest. The project is intended to yield a prototype shelf-stable, inexpensive, self-administered product candidate ready for human trials.