Windtree Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: WINT), a biotechnology company focused on developing aerosolized KL4 surfactant therapies for respiratory diseases, today announced that the Company has been awarded a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research Grant (SBIR) valued at up to $2.6 million from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to support the AEROSURF® phase 2b clinical trial in premature infants 26 to 32 week gestational age (GA) receiving nasal continuous positive airway pressure (nCPAP) for respiratory distress syndrome (RDS). Under the terms of the grant, the Company has initially been awarded $1.0 millionand, over the next two years, may be awarded up to an additional $1.6 million through the completion of the phase 2b clinical trial and one-year patient follow-up. The Company had previously been awarded a $1.9 millionSBIR grant from the NHLBI in support of the AEROSURF phase 2a clinical trial in premature infants 29 to 34 week GA which was completed in late 2015.
"We appreciate the NIH's continued recognition of the importance of our RDS research and support of our AEROSURF development program," commented Craig Fraser, Windtree's President and Chief Executive Officer. "We believe that the NIH's decision to continue to support this program is the result of encouraging results in the AEROSURF phase 2a trial in premature infants 29 to 34 week gestational age. Our key focus for 2016 remains the rigorous and timely execution of the AEROSURF phase 2 program while effectively managing existing cash resources and this NIH funding contributes directly towards achieving these objectives."
The Company is currently enrolling the AEROSURF phase 2b clinical trial in premature infants 26 to 32 weeks GA receiving nCPAP for RDS. The trial is a multicenter, randomized, controlled study with masked treatment assignment in approximately 240 premature infants and is designed to evaluate the safety and tolerability of aerosolized KL4 surfactant (including with potential repeat doses) administered in two dose groups (25 and 50 minutes), compared to infants receiving nCPAP alone. The following endpoints will be evaluated: time to nCPAP failure (the need for intubation and delayed surfactant therapy), incidence of nCPAP failure and physiological parameters indicating the effectiveness of lung function. The trial is expected to be conducted in up to 50 clinical sites in the North America, Europe and Latin America. Enrollment has begun with premature infants 29 to 32 weeks GA, and will include premature infants 26 to 28 weeks GA after completion of the ongoing phase 2a clinical trial in this age group.
Research under this SBIR grant is being conducted by Robert Segal, MD, Principle Investigator at Windtree.
About Windtree Therapeutics
Windtree Therapeutics, Inc. is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing novel surfactant therapies for respiratory diseases and other potential applications. Windtree's proprietary technology platform includes a synthetic, peptide-containing surfactant (KL4 surfactant) that is structurally similar to endogenous pulmonary surfactant and novel drug-delivery technologies being developed to enable noninvasive administration of aerosolized KL4 surfactant. Windtree is focused initially on improving the management of respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) in premature infants and believes that its proprietary technology may make it possible, over time, to develop a pipeline of KL4 surfactant product candidates to address a variety of respiratory diseases for which there are few or no approved therapies.
For more information, please visit the Company's website at www.windtreetx.com.
