Doylestown Biotech Firm Lands Contract To Fight Viral Pathogens

DOYLESTOWN, PA — A Doylestown biotechnology firm has secured a $34.3 million contract from the U.S. Department of Defense to develop a drug to fight several high-risk viral agents, the Philadelphia Business Journal reports.

The five-year contract was awarded to Evrys Bio, a company operating out of the Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center in Doylestown. The company was founded in 2012 by Lillang Chiang, who serves as CEO, and Thomas E. Shenk, a Princeton life sciences professor.

The company is focusing on developing next-generation antiviral medicines based on the discovery by Princeton University researchers that certain human proteins, called sirtuins, normally defend the human or host cell from being invaded by pathogens.

Chiang said the company's work with the federal government addresses lethal viral infections and extends its new drug candidate pipeline that already includes developing products to treat pan-respiratory, pan-hepatic and pan-opportunistic viral infections.

The drug in development intends to improve disease survival after exposure to one or more viruses from three families: alphaviruses, arenaviruses and filoviruses.

The full contract hinges on Evrys achieving a series of product development milestones, including drug-prototype identification, proof-of-concept and regulatory filings.

The funding comes from the Defense Department's Defense Threat Reduction Agency's Chem Bio Technologies, Vaccines and Therapeutics Division.

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