Jay Clemens
BioCryst Pharmaceuticals will experiment on a new drug to treat the Ebola virus under a potential $35 million contract with the Department of Health and Human Services.
Studies on the experimental drug will occur over the next 18 months in collaboration with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority prior to large-scale production, HHS said Tuesday.
The contract has a base value of $12 million and HHS could extend experimental work to August 2017 under options that would bring the deal to its full value.
BioCryst’s drug — called BCX4430 — is a small molecule the company believes could prevent reproduction of the Ebola and Marburg viruses inside the body.
Robin Robinson, BARDA director, said BARDA aims to make progress to “develop product candidates for clinical evaluation and to make products available that protect against this virus.â€
BARDA will also work with BioCryst to overhaul the company’s manufacturing processes and to scale up production across U.S. facilities.
BioCryst is also conducting safety studies of BCX4430 on healthy volunteers under product development funds from the National Institutes of Health.
