This federal Project Grant award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (CFDA 93.855 - Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research) provides $293,680 to Antiger Therapeutics Inc. to develop targeted immunotherapies for celiac disease (CD), a chronic autoimmune condition affecting approximately 100 million individuals globally.
Specifically, the award funds the development of novel biologic treatments that block the aberrant immune response to gluten peptides presented by the HLA-DQ2 membrane protein in CD patients. Antiger Therapeutics aims to generate stabilized dimeric PDQ2-Fc fusion proteins and full-length PDQ2 transmembrane proteins solubilized in detergent micelles. These candidate biologics will be assessed for production yield, purity, and ability to inhibit activation of PDQ2-specific T cells. Successful completion of this Phase I SBIR project is expected to identify one or more PDQ2 biologics that can advance to preclinical testing in the subsequent Phase II effort, with the ultimate goal of an Investigational New Drug (IND) submission.