The US Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) has awarded a $168m Project NextGen contract to ModeX Therapeutics to develop anti-viral therapies.

As per the contract, ModeX will develop multispecific antibodies, which can incorporate four to six independent antibody binding sites into a single molecule, using its MSTAR technology platform.

A part of the US Government’s Strategic Preparedness and Response division, BARDA has launched Project NextGen to develop vaccines and therapies for emerging infections, including Covid-19, influenza, and others. To achieve this, BARDA plans to leverage its public-private partnerships and plans to invest more than $5bn in the Project NextGen programme.

ModeX will receive an upfront payment of $59m to fund the Phase I trial, including development, manufacturing, and execution, for the multispecific antibody with a broad ability to neutralise the known variants of the SARS-CoV-2 strain.

The US-based company is also eligible for milestone-based payments of up to $109m for developing multispecific antibody therapies for other viral pathogens such as influenza. ModeX will also aim to develop gene-based delivery methods using mRNA or DNA vectors for multispecific antibodies.

BARDA has also partnered with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals to develop Covid-19 monoclonal antibody vaccine candidates. The US Government branch also contracted ICON to conduct the clinical trials for the Project NextGen vaccine candidates.

In March, ModeX signed an exclusive global licence and collaboration deal with Merck & Co (MSD) to develop a vaccine candidate for Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV), a leading cause of infectious mononucleosis.