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Beyond "One Bug, One Drug" - Tonix Pharmaceuticals Secures Up To $34 Million In Funding From The U.S. Department Of Defense To Develop a Broad-Spectrum Antiviral
CHATHAM, NJ / ACCESSWIRE / July 24, 2024 / From anthrax to the plague, biological warfare is a real threat to U.S. forces and civilians, so much so the
About this update from Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding Corp.
[{"type":"text","content":"CHATHAM, NJ / ACCESSWIRE / July 24, 2024 / From anthrax to the plague, biological warfare is a real threat to U.S. forces and civilians, so much so the Pentagon budgeted about $2 billion for the country's biological defense for the coming fiscal year. It's also why the U.S. Department of Defense is seeking broad-spectrum antiviral drugs and teaming up with the biotech companies developing them. That's the case with Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:TNXP), a fully integrated biopharmaceutical company. The DoD's Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) recently inked a five-year deal with Tonix Pharmaceuticals to develop small molecule broad-spectrum antiviral agents for the prevention or treatment of infections to improve the medical readiness of military personnel in biological threat environments. Through the Other Transaction Agreement (OTA) contracting vehicle, Tonix could get as much as $34 million in funding over five years.\"Through our agreement with DTRA, our broad-spectrum antiviral research program will address the DoD's goal of protecting U.S. forces in the event biological weapons are introduced onto the battlefield,\" said Seth Lederman, M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Tonix. \"This funding provides important validation for our ongoing research and current in-house capabilities and will enable Tonix to advance its antiviral discovery program.\"Stop Viruses In Their TracksAntiviral drugs are designed to stop a virus in its tracks by either attacking it or preventing it from spreading. In the case of Tonix's program, the goal is to fortify the immune system so that it can protect against a range of viruses. Demand for antiviral drugs is rising along with the concerns about viruses on the battlefield. Viruses are changing, jumping back and forth between humans and animals and there's the new risk that synthetic biology can be used maliciously, to make new viruses or to make existing viruses more virulent in what's called \"gain of function\". On the battlefield, the DoD is looking for antiviral drugs that can protect soldiers regardless of the agent. It is pouring money into different initiatives designed to react in the event of a biological attack.Take DTRA's Chemical and Biological Technologies Department which is sponsoring Tonix's research. The department, which is funded out of DTRA's appro...