Cidara Therapeutics announces $339M BARDA award

Cidara Therapeutics (CDTX) announced it has received an award valued up to $339M from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, part of the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The multi-year agreement consists of a base contract with option periods. The base period funding of $58M over 24 months supports the onshoring of CD388 manufacturing to the United States as an addition to the initial commercial supply chain. This initial funding will also be used to conduct a clinical trial to demonstrate the comparability of a higher-concentration formulation and different presentations of CD388, further characterize its activity against pandemic influenza strains in non-clinical models and initiate the development of clinical trial protocols for expanded populations. The option periods funding up to $281M, if requested by Cidara and exercised by the U.S. government, would support additional clinical and non-clinical studies of CD388 in specific populations, as a complement to the company’s plans for potential biologics license application submission to the FDA.