News Release

Norfolk, VA, June 06, 2019 — ReAlta Life Sciences, Inc. has been awarded a $1.5 million grant by the National Institute of Allergy And Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health through the Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) program. This Phase 2 award will assist ReAlta in developing a new class of drugs to address life-threatening medical needs through beneficial inhibition of the Complement system and Inflammatory Mechanisms.

The title of the funded project is “PIC1 pre-clinical formulation and optimization as a novel anti-inflammatory pharmacological agent.” “PIC1” is the name of ReAlta’s technology platform, a family of over 75 engineered peptides. This platform is a new class of drugs that are uniquely multi-modal, with Complement inhibition of C1 (the initiating component of the classical immune cascade), Myeloperoxidase Inhibition (MPO), NETosis Inhibition, Anti-oxidant activity and Anti-microbial Activity.

Lab and animal research show that this platform has the potential to provide game-changing therapy for over 25 unmet or under-addressed medical needs, including a number of brain, immune, and transfusion related diseases. The funding provided by NIH is designed to provide essential direction for studies leading to human use. This phase of the overall program will run from June 6, 2019 to May 31, 2020.

The Principal Investigator for this project is Neel Krishna, PhD and Chief Science Officer of ReAlta, who lead the precursor Phase 1 research to a successful close. Researchers from the Eastern Virginia Medical School and Virginia Commonwealth University will collaborate with Dr. Krishna in the research, as will Kenji Cunnion, M.D. and Chief Medical Officer of ReAlta.

ABOUT REALTA — ReAlta Life Sciences, Inc. is an early stage pharmaceutical company incorporated in late 2018, and located in Norfolk, Virginia. ReAlta was initially formed as a joint venture between Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters, Eriko Life Science Ventures, and Eastern Virginia Medical School. ReAlta is dedicated to addressing life-threatening medical needs through beneficial inhibition of the Complement System and Inflammatory Mechanisms. To support this mission, ReAlta has developed a new class of drugs that can address unmet medical needs through unique multi-modal therapeutic capabilities.

Disclaimer: Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health under Award R44A1131764. The content is solely the responsibility of the author and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.