This is the largest research grant the university has ever received
A research grant in the amount of 5.6 million dollars in the field of protection against biological terrorism was awarded to a researcher from the School of Medicine of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) - which belongs to the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) - for the development of an effective drug against the family Toxins called superantigens.
This is the largest competitive research grant ever awarded to the Hebrew University and to an Israeli researcher by the NIH. The funds were awarded as part of the NIAID Bioterrorism Defense Challenge Grant Program. This program encourages industrial companies to work with academic researchers in order to develop defenses against weapons and biological terrorism.
The development of the product will be done in collaboration with the Atox Bio company established by the Hebrew University's research development application company, as part of the Hebrew University's strategy to commercialize promising technologies by establishing new companies.
Superantigens are deadly toxins produced by the staphylococcus and streptococcus bacteria.
Exposure to a minimal amount of them can cause serious illnesses and even sudden death of humans, thus posing a threat of biological terrorism. These toxins are also responsible for most cases of toxic shock (TOXIC SHOCK) and infectious shock (SEPTIC SHOCK) and are resistant to antibiotics; So far no cure or vaccine has been found for them.
The grant in the amount of 5.6 million dollars was awarded to Prof. Raymond Kempfer for the purpose of financing preclinical research and development up to the stage of a clinical trial of the antagonist that blocks the action of the toxins. The NIH grant review committee noted that this study is unique in the world.
Prof. Kempfer and Dr. Gila Arad from the Department of Molecular Virology at the Faculty of Medicine of the Hebrew University previously revealed a new molecular mechanism that clarifies how the super-antigen toxins trigger an excessive immune response that leads to death. The researchers used this discovery to design peptides (short chains of protein) that counteract this lethal activity (antagonists) and thus protect animals from toxic shock and infectious shock. The result obtained is a controlled immune response that suppresses the activity of the toxins, but is not accompanied by the effects of shock. Furthermore, animals that were vaccinated and survived the treatment remained protected against future toxin attack.
Prof. Kemper's previous research that led to the current NIAID grant was funded by the US Department of Defense's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in a series of grants totaling more than $6.5 million.
Prof. Kaempfer and Dr. Arad will lead the basic research regarding the mechanism of action of the antagonist which is essential for its approval when the time comes. Most of the grant money will be invested in the pre-clinical development and it will be carried out in the USA and the UK under the management of Atox Bio, which owns the intellectual property rights. Zeev Weiss, head of business-strategic consulting in the life sciences of "Price-Waterhouse-Coopers", Israel played a central role in the preparations for submitting the grant application.
"The research grant will fund the development of Atox Bio's drug to protect against biological terrorism, using an abbreviated FDA (American Food and Drug Administration) approval process, which only requires the completion of Phase I trials in order to grant the license" says Atox Bio CEO Uri Danon . "This will allow us to quickly reach the economic break-even point in order to finance future advanced developments of drugs for the treatment of diseases that until now have not had a complete drug treatment."
Atox Bio uses a unique technological platform to develop a product to protect against biological weapons and to develop additional products to treat autoimmune diseases and infectious shock.
A biological weapon expert
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