Federal Grant Award Summary

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) awarded the University of Houston System a Project Grant of $446,144 on July 9, 2026, under the Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.855). The award supports the development of a nanoparticle-based therapeutic intervention designed to treat sepsis by simultaneously blocking multiple toll-like receptor (TLR) pathways and neutralizing bacterial infections. The research addresses a critical clinical need, as sepsis remains a leading cause of hospital deaths globally and current single-target treatment approaches—such as TLR-4 antagonists—have demonstrated limited efficacy in clinical trials. The proposed innovation involves co-encapsulating AN-3485 (a multi-TLR inhibitor) and polymyxin B (an antibiotic of last resort) within polymerized tannic acid nanoparticles to enhance solubility, reduce toxicity, and enable systemic administration of this dual-mechanism therapy.

The project, scheduled for completion by June 30, 2028, will be conducted at the University of Houston's facility in Houston, Texas. The research deliverables are expected to produce preclinical evidence supporting a novel nanoparticle-based sepsis treatment that addresses multiple pathological inflammatory pathways simultaneously, potentially overcoming the limitations of previous monotherapy approaches and establishing a foundation for future clinical translation of this multi-target therapeutic strategy.