SEATTLE | Aug. 24, 2017 - IDRI (Infectious Disease Research Institute), on behalf of the Lilly TB Drug Discovery Initiative, announces it has entered into an agreement with Zhejiang Hisun Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., a China-based leading biopharmaceutical company, to continue development of inhalable CPZEN-45, a tuberculosis (TB) drug candidate that could potentially treat the growing problem of antibiotic-resistant TB. Burdening its victims with increased health concerns and a high cost of treatment, drug-resistant TB occurs when Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), the bacterium that causes TB, becomes resistant to the drugs used to treat it, underscoring the need for the development of new drugs.

Seattle, WA | November 3, 2016 : IDRI’s (Infectious Disease Research Institute) drug discovery efforts continue to grow with a recently awarded $7.5 million in additional funding, plus an additional $7.5 million of in-kind services, for a total commitment of $15 million over the next five years from Eli Lilly and Company. The funding and in-kind services, which include Lilly scientists’ time and engagement on projects as well as Lilly research and development resources and capabilities, will extend the work of the Lilly TB Drug Discovery Initiative. This marks the continuation of a long-standing partnership between IDRI and Eli Lilly, which started more than eight years ago with the founding of the Lilly Initiative, a unique public-private partnership that includes IDRI, Lilly and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), with a focus on the discovery of new anti-tuberculosis drugs.

SEATTLE, September 17, 2015 -- Today, the Infectious Disease Research Institute (IDRI) and Wellcome Trust announce the start of a Phase 2a trial in South Africa of IDRI's tuberculosis (TB) vaccine candidate, which has been shown to both prevent and treat TB in preclinical studies in animal models. The Wellcome Trust awarded IDRI a $5.8 million/ £3.8 million grant to clinically assess the ability of IDRI's vaccine candidate to reduce TB recurrence after treatment. Even after successfully completing an anti-TB treatment regimen, patients may succumb to TB again, thereby threatening TB control programs by promoting spread and drug resistance. Prior Phase 1 clinical trials have shown that IDRI's TB vaccine candidate boosts immune responses that may protect against TB recurrence.

SEATTLE, Nov. 19, 2014: With the goal of developing a thermostable tuberculosis vaccine that is resistant to damage from excessive heat or cold, IDRI (Infectious Disease Research Institute) today announces it has been awarded a contract from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, a part of the National Institutes of Health. The contract (HHSN272201400041C) has a base award of $3.6 million and could be worth up to $11.9 million if all milestone-driven options are exercised. The contract provides funding for a team of IDRI scientists – led by Christopher Fox, Ph.D. – to develop, produce and test a thermostable lyophilized formulation of its vaccine candidate to prevent tuberculosis. TB-causing bacteria infect an estimated one-third of the global population, and, in 2013, approximately nine million people developed active cases of TB illness.

SEATTLE, March 24, 2014: IDRI's drug discovery efforts continue to grow with a recently awarded grant extension of $3.4 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The additional funding was awarded to Tanya Parish, Ph.D., IDRI's Vice President of Drug Discovery, and supplements an earlier grant awarded in 2010, for a total of $7.8 million. The grant is focused on identifying new leads and drug targets for tuberculosis with the ultimate goal of producing new drugs to treat TB.