Vironika, LLC, received a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to continue its efforts to identify small molecules that will inhibit Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV).
“We are very excited to be able to optimize our lead compounds,” says Mark McDonnell, Ph.D., Principal Investigator. “This highly competitive grant is indicative of the quality and results of our EBV drug discovery and the enthusiasm of the scientific review committee for this approach to eradicating EBV-related malignancies.”
The grant will allow Vironika to further develop and test compounds related to the lead compounds the company has already identified and test them in cell-based assays and xenograft tumor models.
Vironika, LLC, is a privately held company founded in 2009 by Paul Lieberman, Ph.D. Dr. Lieberman is a full Professor at the Wistar Institute in Philadelphia.