Anindya Roy, a researcher at the University of Washington Institute for Protein Design (IPD), has received a $250,000 grant from Washington Research Foundation (WRF) for continued development of an inhaled miniprotein binder for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), WRF has announced. According to WRF, Roy’s miniprotein binds to the αvβ6 integrin, which is associated with promotion of fibrosis in IPF and is also believed to be a factor in lung damage caused by viruses such as COVID-19. The miniprotein is also very stable, making it a good candidate for nebulization.
A 2019 WRF grant to Roy funded in vivo tests of the miniprotein, which demonstrated that an injected formulation could reduce lung fibrosis in a mouse model. The new grant will fund safety and efficacy testing of an inhaled formulation.
WRF Director of Grant Programs Meher Antia said, “Advancing this miniprotein as a potential therapeutic is exactly the type of work that WRF believes will have a genuine impact on human health. With limited options for treating a disease that causes much suffering, the work that Anindya and the IPD team is doing is extremely important and we are delighted to continue to support it.”
Roy commented, “The latest funding from WRF will enable us to reach several major milestones. We’ll be conducting mouse-model studies to determine the ideal delivery method—which we expect will be through a nebulizer—and measure toxicity to establish optimal dosing. Our unique capabilities to design hyperstable miniproteins give us a competitive advantage over other biologics for a wide variety of pulmonary diseases.”
Read the Washington Research Foundation press release.
