Full Press Release Details
Technologies Receives Additional $20 Million from NIH for
Antiviral Therapeutic Development
September 18, 2008 - SIGA Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: SIGA), a company
specializing in the development of pharmaceutical agents to fight bio-warfare
pathogens, today announced that it has received an additional $20 million from
the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID), a division of
the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to accelerate development of ST-246 for
a therapeutic indication.
Office of the Biomedical Advance Research and Development Authority (BARDA),
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS),
has provided this funding to NIAID to advance research and development of
biodefense products such as ST-246. This additional funding will be
supplemental funding for SIGA's existing $16.5 million contract and will be used
to accelerate process development related to large-scale manufacturing and
packaging of the drug and commercial-scale validation.
on the contract, Dr. Dennis E. Hruby, SIGA's Chief Scientific Officer and
Prinicpal Investigator on the award, stated, "Funding provided by this contract
brings us one step closer to our goal of commercialization by allowing us to
initiate commercial manufacturing of the drug in a timely manner and supporting
the operating process. The support that we continue to receive from
NIH for research and development of ST-246, we believe, speaks to the urgent
need for a smallpox antiviral, as well as the continued success demonstrated by
Rose, SIGA's Chief Executive Officer, continued, "We have made considerable
achievements thus far in our R&D efforts with ST-246, and are confident that
we are on the right path to bring this drug to market to help prevent or contain
the effects of any biological warfare attack using the smallpox virus in the
United States or around the world, should the need arise."
SIGA Technologies, Inc.
Technologies is applying viral and bacterial genomics and sophisticated
computational modeling in the design and development of novel products for the
prevention and treatment of serious infectious diseases, with an emphasis on
products for biological warfare defense. SIGA believes that it is a leader in
the development of pharmaceutical agents to fight potential bio-warfare
pathogens. SIGA has antiviral programs targeting smallpox and other Category A
pathogens, including arenaviruses (Lassa fever, Junin, Machupo, Guanarito,
Sabia, and lymphocytic choriomeningitis), dengue virus, and the filoviruses
(Ebola and Marburg). For more information about SIGA, please visit SIGA's Web
site at http://www.siga.com/.
press release contains or implies certain "forward-looking statements" within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended,
including statements regarding the efficacy of potential products, the timelines
for bringing such products to market and the continued development and possible
eventual approval of such products. Forward-looking statements are based on
management's estimates, assumptions and projections, and are subject to
uncertainties, many of which are beyond SIGA's control. Actual results may
differ materially from those anticipated in any forward-looking statement.
Factors that may cause such differences include the risks that (a) potential
products that appear promising to SIGA or its collaborators cannot be shown to
be efficacious or safe in subsequent pre-clinical or clinical trials, (b) SIGA
or its collaborators will not obtain appropriate or necessary governmental
approvals to market these or other potential products, (c) SIGA may not be able
to obtain anticipated funding for its development projects or other needed
funding, (d) SIGA may not be able to secure funding from anticipated government
contracts and grants, (e) SIGA may not be able to secure or enforce sufficient
legal rights in its products, including sufficient patent protection for its
products and (f) regulatory approval for SIGA's products may require further or
additional testing that will delay or prevent approval. More detailed
information about SIGA and risk factors that may affect the realization of
forward-looking statements, including the forward-looking statements in this
press release, is set forth in SIGA's filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission, including SIGA's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year
ended December 31, 2007, and in other documents that SIGA has filed with the
Commission. SIGA urges investors and security holders to read those documents
free of charge at the Commission's Web site at http://www.sec.gov. Interested
parties may also obtain those documents free of charge from SIGA.
Forward-looking statements speak only as to the date they are made, and, except
for any obligation under the U.S. federal securities laws, SIGA undertakes no
obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise.
Strategic Communications
Fromer / Marybeth Csaby / David Burke