Ventria Bioscience Receives $4.2-Million Grant for Intestinal Infection Treatments

On Oct. 23, 2017, Ventria Bioscience, a biopharmaceutical company specializing in the production of medical products, announced a $4.2-million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to invest in the development of new treatments for Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (or ETEC) infections, a bacterial cause of diarrhea in the developing world.

According to the company, the grant will help fund the development of potential ETEC treatments using the company’s ExpressTec biomanufacturing technology, which uses plants to manufacture recombinant proteins, small peptides, multi-subunit molecules, monoclonal antibodies, fusion proteins, and enzymes used in therapeutic and biotechnology.

ETEC is believed to be responsible for approximately 280 to 400 million cases of diarrhea annually in children under five, and roughly 157,000 deaths per year. The bacterial infection also is associated with travelers' diarrhea.

"We are very pleased to receive this funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to fight ETEC diarrheal disease, which causes widespread misery, especially among young children in lower-income countries. This initiative aims to develop a new kind of oral treatment that could be delivered economically on a large scale for use in children or adults," said Scott E. Deeter, president and CEO of Ventria, in a company press release.

Source: Ventria Bioscience