Aug. 5, 2015

Keystone Nano is pleased to announce it has been awarded a SBIR contract from the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to apply the NanoJacket technology to create a novel cellular messaging therapy (RNAi) for influenza. NanoJackets are nano-materials designed as smart and stealthy delivery systems for a range of medicines.

As a highly contagious respiratory tract infection, Influenza causes annual epidemics that infect up to 10% of adults and 30% of children worldwide causing severe illness occurs in more than 3 million patients and an annual mortality of up to 500,000. In addition to seasonal influenza, several pandemics have been caused by highly virulent influenza strains, including the 1918 pandemic during which 50 million people died. Despite vaccination programs and therapies, influenza commonly develops resistance and remains widespread with substantial impacts on global health and productiveness.
Dr. Mylisa Parette of Keystone Nano and leader of this research notes: “The siRNA NanoJacket platform is widely applicable to many different diseases. We are excited to extend this technology to infectious diseases through this project with NIAID“. The company’s CEO, Mr. Jeff Davidson, observed that: “this contract provides an important opportunity to combat a serious illness in a very novel way, and we are excited about the prospects.”

Keystone is also pleased to be working with a new partner, IIT Research Institute (IITRI), based in Chicago, Illinois that has considerable expertise as a preclinical Contract Research Organization. Dr. David Boltz will lead IITRI’s team of scientists to test the efficacy and safety of the anti-influenza siRNA NanoJackets developed during this project.
Keystone Nano has been awarded several National Institute of Health (NIH) grants and a Pennsylvania Department of Health grant to build on Penn State University nanoparticle technology to developing nanoparticles for the treatment of cancer. Based in State College, Keystone Nano is working at the interface between nanotechnology and the life sciences and has licensed intellectual property around nanoparticles from Penn State University and is further developing this technology. The company is working to commercialize NanoJacket products and NanoLiposomes for a variety of medical applications.