CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Tiba Biotech LLC, a Cambridge-based preclinical biopharmaceutical company, announced today it has received a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). The $400,000 award provides non-dilutive funding to further develop Tiba’s proprietary RNABL™ platform for improved delivery of RNA modulators of inflammatory processes.

The program aims to optimize RNA delivery to the lung for a new generation of therapeutics against a range of inflammatory pulmonary diseases. “Our core technology enables non-inflammatory, organ-specific nucleic acid delivery, opening up a range of applications where the inflammatory effects of traditional LNPs would be limiting,” said Jasdave Chahal, Chief Science Officer and co-founder. This is based on an earlier BARDA contract in which the team demonstrated lung targeted delivery of an RNAi payload.

“Our core technology enables non-inflammatory, organ-specific nucleic acid delivery, opening up a range of applications where the inflammatory effects of traditional LNPs would be limiting.”

— Jasdave Chahal, Ph.D.

Tissue-specific delivery of RNA therapeutics using traditional lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) remains a key challenge in the field. Tiba’s unique delivery technology addresses this gap by providing a potent, non-inflammatory alternative that avoids unwanted liver uptake, allowing access to a variety of different organs. “Inflammatory lung conditions represent a critical unmet medical need, and there is a dearth of pharmaceutical interventions available,” said Prof. Christian Mandl, Ph.D., M.D., co-founder and Chief Medical Officer. “With this award, Tiba can advance a novel class of treatment for acute respiratory distress syndrome by targeting the specific pathways in the specific cells responsible for the pathology.”

“With this award, Tiba can advance a novel class of treatment for acute respiratory distress syndrome by targeting the specific pathways in the specific cells responsible for the pathology.” 

— Christian Mandl, Ph.D., M.D.

The federally mandated NHLBI SBIR program supports early-stage companies developing high-risk, high-reward technologies with strong commercial potential. This grant accelerates Tiba’s mission to translate its RNA delivery platform into transformative therapies for patients. For the BARDA award see an earlier post, and for our spleen targeting SBIR award for cancer therapeutics see an earlier post.

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About Tiba Biotech

Tiba Biotech LLC is a preclinical-stage biopharmaceutical company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, developing next-generation RNA medicines using its proprietary RNABL™ delivery platform. Tiba’s mission is to unlock RNA’s therapeutic potential by enabling organ-targeted, safe, and potent delivery solutions to address cancer, infectious diseases, and other serious conditions.  For more information about Tiba Biotech, visit www.tiba.bio, follow us on X (formally Twitter) @TibaBiotech and LinkedIn.

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