SRI International Awarded DTRA Contract to Identify Drugs Effective Against Biological Weapons
MENLO PARK, Calif. – October 4, 2007 – SRI International, an independent nonprofit research and development organization, today announced that it has been awarded a $9.5 million contract by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), part of the U.S. Department of Defense. SRI will lead a drug discovery and development program to identify approved drugs that could also be effective against biological threats. The goal of the program is to repurpose drugs that are currently approved and marketed but have not been previously evaluated against diseases caused by biological weapons.
"We are proud to be leading this important effort that will greatly increase the number of approved therapeutics to treat biological warfare agents," said Rae Lyn Burke, Ph.D., senior director, Center of Excellence for Infectious Disease and Biodefense at SRI International. "SRI has a history of successful drug repurposing, and will apply that expertise to the development of broad-spectrum treatment options that will protect soldiers and benefit basic research of infectious disease."
SRI will collaborate with other leading research institutes to develop a library of compounds, discover unknown activities against biothreat agents and confirm the effectiveness of best candidates. The U.S. Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research (SFBR), The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston and BioRosettex are each contributing research and technology expertise.
All potential drug compounds evaluated in the program already have well-established safety and pharmacokinetic profiles and are available on pharmacy shelves. Once efficacy has been confirmed, SRI will work though the FDA to identify an accelerated path to approval for the new indication. SRI will also publish the information so new treatment options could be considered in case of a national emergency.
About SRI's Biosciences Division
SRI International’s Biosciences Division teams with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, academia, foundations, and government agencies to solve important problems in global health. SRI Biosciences conducts basic research, drug discovery, and drug development, including contract research. SRI has all of the resources necessary to take R&D programs from "idea to IND"™-- from initial discovery to investigational new drug applications to start human clinical trials—and specializes in cancer, immunology, infectious disease, and neuroscience research. To date, SRI has helped advance more than 100 drugs into clinical trials, including a number of its own discoveries, several of which have reached the market. SRI is also working at the nexus of science and technology to create new technology platforms for the next generation of drug discovery and development in areas such as diagnostics, drug delivery, medical devices, and systems biology.
About SRI International
Silicon Valley-based SRI International (www.sri.com) is one of the world's leading independent research and technology development organizations. Founded as Stanford Research Institute in 1946, SRI has been meeting the strategic needs of clients for more than 60 years. The nonprofit research institute performs client-sponsored research and development for government agencies, commercial businesses, and private foundations. In addition to conducting contract R&D, SRI licenses its technologies, forms strategic partnerships, and creates spin-off companies.
