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Kathera Bioscience Receives SBIR Phase I Fast Track Award to Advance Novel Drugs to Treat Life Threatening Fungal Infections
UNION, N.J. — January 17, 2024
Kathera Bioscience Inc., a privately-held biotech startup, was awarded a SBIR Fast Track grant (1R44AI181163-01) with a value of up to $3,298,530 from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) for its dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) program. The award will fund selection of a lead series in the Phase 1 award and lead optimization in Phase 2. Kathera is developing novel therapeutics to treat fungal infections, a major cause of human disease with an estimated 11.5 million annual life-threatening infections globally, resulting in more than 1.5 million deaths.
“In 2022 the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) highlighted important fungal pathogens that pose a significant global infection risk. We are excited to receive this Fast Track SBIR Phase 1 award from NIAID and NIH and are grateful for their support of Kathera’s efforts to develop novel broad-spectrum antifungal drugs targeting fungal DHFR.” said Stephen Parent, Kathera Bioscience’s founder and vice president of business strategy and development.
Kathera Bioscience is developing novel, first-in-class therapies that are distinct from the four current classes of antifungal drugs on the market and that will address the growing problem of resistance to these agents.
“This NIAID award represents a major step toward developing new antifungal drugs. It helps our startup company’s programs at critical early stages, and we are grateful for the support ” said James Balkovec, Kathera Bioscience’s vice president of chemistry and co-founder.
About Kathera Bioscience Inc.
Kathera Bioscience is a privately held biotechnology company focused on developing novel, broad-spectrum antifungal drugs against new targets for which there are no FDA or EMA approved drugs. It is located at the Institute for Life Science Entrepreneurship (ILSE) at Kean University. The company’s management and scientific teams, consulting, licensing, and scientific advisors have decades of experience in fungal biology and expertise spanning most aspects of biopharma R&D, including target identification and validation, lead identification and optimization, preclinical development, project management, licensing and founding successful biotech companies. Visit https://katherabio.com/
CONTACT:
Dr. Stephen Parent
(908) 202-5699
sparent@katherabio.com
Kathera Bioscience Receives SBIR Phase I Award to Advance Novel Antifungal Technologies
UNION, N.J. — August 15, 2023 —
Kathera Bioscience Inc., a privately-held biotech startup, was awarded a SBIR Phase I grant (1R43AI170288-01A1) with a value of up to $597,060 from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). The award will fund Kathera’s Redesigning Existing Drugs against Indispensable Targets (ReEDIT) platform for discovery and advancement of novel broad-spectrum antifungal drugs to combat emerging and drug-resistant fungal infections.
Kathera is developing therapeutics to treat fungal infections, a major cause of human disease with an estimated 11.5 million annual life-threatening infections globally, resulting in more than 1.5 million deaths. The two-year SBIR award will support research to develop small molecule chemical inhibitors of essential fungal targets with unique modes of action, leading to new classes of antifungal drugs.
“Fungal pathogens pose significant global threats. In 2022, the World Health Organization (WHO) published a list of priority pathogens to guide R&D and public health action. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is also concerned about the increase in invasive fungal infections. A 2022 CDC Special Report describes the impact of COVID-19 on the incidence of drug resistant fungal infections. Candida auris and drug-resistant Candida infections are listed as Urgent and Serious Threats by the CDC and azole-resistant Aspergillus fumigatus is on the CDC Watch List. We are excited to receive this SBIR award from the NIAID and the NIH and grateful for their support of Kathera Bioscience’s efforts to develop new broad-spectrum antifungal drugs to treat drug-resistant fungal infections.” said Stephen Parent, Kathera Bioscience’s founder and vice president of business strategy and development.
Located in the STEM Building on Kean University’s Union, New Jersey campus and incubated at the Institute for Life Science Entrepreneurship (ILSE), Kathera Bioscience is developing novel, first-in-class therapies that are distinct from the four current classes of antifungal drugs on the market. The new inhibitors target novel fungal enzymes with the goal of overcoming limitations of existing therapies such as toxicity, drug-drug interactions, inconvenient dosing regimens and increasing incidence of resistance.
“This NIAID award represents a major step toward developing new antifungal drugs. It helps our startup company’s programs at critical early stages, and we are grateful for the support” said Steven Hanes, Kathera Bioscience’s Chief Scientific Officer, co-founder, and Professor Emeritus at SUNY Upstate Medical University.
For more information about Kathera Bioscience Inc., please visit http://katherabio.com
About Kathera Bioscience Inc.
Kathera Bioscience is a privately held biotechnology company focused on developing novel, broad-spectrum antifungal drugs against new targets for which there are no FDA or EMA approved drugs. It is located at the Institute for Life Science Entrepreneurship (ILSE) at Kean University. The company’s management and scientific teams, consulting, licensing, and scientific advisors have decades of experience in fungal biology and expertise spanning most aspects of biopharma R&D, including target identification and validation, lead identification and optimization, preclinical development, project management, licensing and founding successful biotech companies. Visit https://katherabio.com/
CONTACT:
Dr. Stephen Parent
(908) 202-5699
sparent@katherabio.com
Kathera Bioscience Inc. Receives $298,530 SBIR Grant to Advance Novel Antifungal Technology
UNION, N.J. — June 21, 2021 — Kathera Bioscience Inc., a startup located within the Institute for Life Science Entrepreneurship (ILSE) at Kean University has received a $298,530 grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) program to develop a new class of broad-spectrum antifungal drugs to combat emerging and drug-resistant fungal infections.
“The scientific and business team at KatheraBio assembled a very strong scientific rationale and developed an outstanding research and development approach that together represent a unique opportunity to address the growing unmet medical need for countering fungal infections,” said Keith Bostian, ILSE CEO and acting CEO of KatheraBio.
KatheraBio is focused on developing therapies to treat fungal infections, a major cause of global human disease with an estimated 11.5 million annual life-threatening infections globally, resulting in more than 1.5 million deaths. The one-year SBIR award will support research to develop small molecule chemical inhibitors of an essential fungal target with a unique mode of action, leading to a new class of antifungal drugs.
“We are excited to receive our first SBIR grant and appreciate the NIAID’s and NIH’s support of efforts to discover and develop new antifungal drugs. This important seed funding enables us to advance the technology further and work toward securing additional financial support,” said Stephen Parent, KatheraBio’s founder and vice president of business strategy and development. “This critical research will explore specific fungal enzyme targets for which there are no FDA-approved drugs on the market.”
Located in the STEM Building on Kean University’s Union campus and incubated at ILSE with scientific and business development support, KatheraBio is founded on technology from SUNY-Upstate Medical University. KatheraBio is focused on a novel, first-in-class therapy that is distinct from the four current classes of antifungal drugs on the market. The drug candidates are being designed to inhibit a novel target and overcome the limitations of existing therapies such as toxicity, drug-to-drug interactions, inconvenient dosing and increasing incidence of resistance.
“This SBIR award represents a significant step toward developing new antifungal drugs based on fundamental basic science we have discovered,” said Steven Hanes, professor at SUNY Upstate Medical University and co-founder of the company. “It is a great example of a partnership between industry and academics, promoted by the NIH, that is worth much more than the sum of its parts.”
For more information about Kathera Bioscience Inc. and ILSE, visit http://katherabio.com/ or https://ilsebio.com/.
About Institute for Life Science Entrepreneurship
The Institute for Life Science Entrepreneurship (ILSE) at Kean University is a non-profit organization located in Union, N.J., USA. Located in Kean’s STEM building, ILSE provides incubator space and accelerator services to life science companies and is also a science-driven research institute working in partnership with major academic, non-profit, and corporate organizations, and with entrepreneurs and regional institutions. ILSE’s American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) Center for Translational Microbiology focuses on research in microbiome, advanced microbial genomics, clinical multi-drug resistance, and bioinformatics. Visit https://ilsebio.com/
About Kean University
Founded in 1855, Kean University is one of the largest metropolitan institutions of higher education in the region, with a richly diverse student, faculty and staff population. Kean continues to play a key role in the training of teachers and is a hub of educational, technological and cultural enrichment serving more than 16,000 students. The University’s six undergraduate colleges offer more than 50 undergraduate degrees over a full range of academic subjects. The Nathan Weiss Graduate College offers six doctoral degree programs and more than 80 options for graduate study leading to master’s degrees, professional diplomas or certifications. With campuses in Union, Toms River, Jefferson and Manahawkin, New Jersey, and Wenzhou, China, Kean University furthers its mission by providing an affordable and accessible world-class education. Visit www.kean.edu