SIGA Enters into Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Disease

SIGA Technologies (NASDAQ:SIGA) a commercial-stage pharmaceutical company focused on the health security market, today announced that it has entered into a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID).

As quoted in the press release:

“The studies included in this CRADA build on a strong history of collaboration between USAMRIID and SIGA, and we are pleased to have the opportunity to again work with USAMRIID to further explore how TPOXX could be used in the event of a smallpox outbreak,” said Dr. Phil Gomez, CEO of SIGA.  “We believe these studies will be important in supporting a possible label expansion filing with the FDA for approval of TPOXX for PEP. The continued evaluation of TPOXX in potential additional indications is evidence of the broad potential of the TPOXX pipeline.”

The FDA has already approved the oral formulation TPOXX for the treatment of smallpox, and its use in the PEP setting could provide significant potential benefit in the event of an outbreak.  While vaccines would play an important role in containing the spread of smallpox, they are only effective if administered prior to infection or no later than four days after infection. However, symptoms of smallpox do not typically appear until approximately 14 days post-infection, and there is currently no diagnostic test to determine infection prior to symptom onset. Given the uncertainty of an individual’s infection status in that two-week period, the administration of vaccine in combination with TPOXX could potentially be an important strategy for reducing morbidity and mortality in a smallpox outbreak.

Click here to read the full press release.