U19AI171413

UTMB-Novartis Alliance for Pandemic Preparedness - Overall – Abstract

Pandemic prevention and preparedness is a major scientific and societal priority that requires sustained and forward-looking investments across governmental, non-governmental, academic, and private sectors to develop an arsenal of countermeasures against the existential threat of viral pandemics.

Combining world-leading BSL3/4 capabilities at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) and state-of-the-art drug discovery technologies at Novartis, the UTMB Novartis Alliance for Pandemic Preparedness (UNAPP) is a unique and innovative partnership that brings together the multi-disciplinary expertise required to deliver high-quality antiviral drug candidates.

Enabled by world-leading virologists and seasoned drug hunters, UNAPP will aggressively prosecute a portfolio of 5 projects aiming to discover orally available, safe, and effective drugs against coronaviruses, flavivirus, and henipavirus, three major classes of viruses with pandemic potential. The projects portfolio combines approaches targeting well-validated drug targets, such as the RNA-dependent RNA polymerases and viral proteases, as well as phenotypic screening, which will allow for the discovery of clinical drug candidates and novel targets that will advance our fundamental understanding of the biology of those viruses.

Four scientific cores—virology, high-throughput biology, drug discovery, and translational research cores—will provide technological and scientific expertise to support project teams and implement the scientific strategy toward novel antiviral drugs.

The UNAPP will be governed by an administrative core which will be co-led by the PIs, Dr. Pei-Yong Shi and Dr. Thierry Diagana, who have a long track record of successfully working together. Both PIs have led multiple productive collaborations focused on translational impact and combining public, private, and non-governmental organizations. The administrative core will provide integrated decision making in scientific, operational, financial, intellectual property protection, and communication. In collaboration with all project and core leaders, as well as with external input from a scientific advisory board and NIH program officers, they will ensure that the projects portfolio leverages the full spectrum of technologies and capabilities residing in all four scientific cores, capturing synergies across projects through cross-learning and efficient deployment of platforms relevant to multiple viruses.

Because of the unique complementarity of the scientific cores and the remarkable synergies of the project portfolio, we fully expect that the UNAPP will yield exceptional productivity and deliver all the proposed objectives: (1) deliver 3 IND-ready candidates and 3 development candidates, (2) advance antiviral research, and (3) train next-generation drug hunters.

University Of Texas Medical Branch At Galveston

TO ASSIST PUBLIC AND PRIVATE NONPROFIT INSTITUTIONS AND INDIVIDUALS TO ESTABLISH, EXPAND AND IMPROVE BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH AND RESEARCH TRAINING IN INFECTIOUS DISEASES AND RELATED AREAS, TO CONDUCT DEVELOPMENTAL RESEARCH, TO PRODUCE AND TEST RESEARCH MATERIALS. TO ASSIST PUBLIC, PRIVATE AND COMMERCIAL INSTITUTIONS TO CONDUCT DEVELOPMENTAL RESEARCH, TO PRODUCE AND TEST RESEARCH MATERIALS, TO PROVIDE RESEARCH SERVICES AS REQUIRED BY THE AGENCY FOR PROGRAMS IN INFECTIOUS DISEASES, AND CONTROLLING DISEASE CAUSED BY INFECTIOUS OR PARASITIC AGENTS, ALLERGIC AND IMMUNOLOGIC DISEASES AND RELATED AREAS. PROJECTS RANGE FROM STUDIES OF MICROBIAL PHYSIOLOGY AND ANTIGENIC STRUCTURE TO COLLABORATIVE TRIALS OF EXPERIMENTAL DRUGS AND VACCINES, MECHANISMS OF RESISTANCE TO ANTIBIOTICS AS WELL AS RESEARCH DEALING WITH EPIDEMIOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS IN HOSPITALIZED PATIENTS OR COMMUNITY POPULATIONS AND PROGRESS IN ALLERGIC AND IMMUNOLOGIC DISEASES. BECAUSE OF THIS DUAL FOCUS, THE PROGRAM ENCOMPASSES BOTH BASIC RESEARCH AND CLINICAL RESEARCH. SMALL BUSINESS INNOVATION RESEARCH (SBIR) PROGRAM EXPANDS AND IMPROVES PRIVATE SECTOR PARTICIPATION IN BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH. THE SBIR PROGRAM INTENDS TO INCREASE AND FACILITATE PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIALIZATION OF INNOVATIONS DERIVED FROM FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, TO INCREASE SMALL BUSINESS PARTICIPATION IN FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, AND TO FOSTER AND ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION OF SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS IN TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION. THE SMALL BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER (STTR) PROGRAM STIMULATES AND FOSTERS SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION THROUGH COOPERATIVE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CARRIED OUT BETWEEN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS, TO FOSTER TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER BETWEEN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS, TO INCREASE PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIALIZATION OF INNOVATIONS DERIVED FROM FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, AND TO FOSTER AND ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION OF SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS IN TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION. RESEARCH CAREER DEVELOPMENT AWARDS SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT OF SCIENTISTS DURING THE FORMATIVE STAGES OF THEIR CAREERS. INDIVIDUAL NATIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE AWARDS (NRSAS) ARE MADE DIRECTLY TO APPROVE APPLICANTS FOR RESEARCH TRAINING IN SPECIFIED BIOMEDICAL SHORTAGE AREAS. IN ADDITION, INSTITUTIONAL NATIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE AWARDS ARE MADE TO ENABLE INSTITUTIONS TO SELECT AND MAKE AWARDS TO INDIVIDUALS TO RECEIVE TRAINING UNDER THE AEGIS OF THEIR INSTITUTIONAL PROGRAM.

93.855 - Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) [HHS - NIH]

Texas United States

State-Wide

Antiviral Drug Discovery (AViDD) Centers for Pathogens of Pandemic Concern (U19 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) (RFA-AI-21-050)

COVID-19 $75,012,640 (100%) percent of this Cooperative Agreement was funded by COVID-19 emergency acts including the 2020 Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act and the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.
Amendment Since initial award the End Date has been shortened from 04/30/25 to 03/25/25 and the total obligations have increased 34% from $56,163,625 to $75,012,640.