SRI wins 9.5 million NIH contract to counteract chemical attacks

Published 22 December 2006

Contract awarded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke as part of the CounterACT program; SRI to focus on preclinical development that can lead to potential therapeutic candidates

Menlo Park, California-based SRI International, a non-profit research and development organization, has won a $9.5 million contract to develop medical countermeasures to prevent, diagnose, and treat the conditions caused by potential and existing chemical agents of terrorism. Awarded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), the project is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) CounterACT program to develop improved medical countermeasures for chemical threats.

Under the contract, SRI will focus on preclinical development that can lead to potential therapeutic candidates, including synthetic and natural products and small molecule drugs. This will include efforts to develop analytical methods, perform pharmacology studies, conduct safety evaluations, and formulate and manufacture products for further study. SRI will also prepare therapeutic candidates to enter clinical assessment under an investigational new drug (IND) submission to the Food and Drug Administration, and will evaluate previously developed candidate therapies supported by the CounterACT program.

-read more in this organization news release