Tseng Lab Receives Prestigious Award to Study Antivirals for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenzas

The Galveston National Lab extends congratulations to Dr. Kent Tseng and his highly capable team upon receipt of a $652,730 grant to support a two-year research effort into countermeasures for pandemic influenza. Dr. Tseng is a Professor of Microbiology & Immunology at UTMB.

The grant comes from the Pandemic Antiviral Discovery initiative, launched as a collaboration between the Novo Nordisk Foundation, Open Philanthropy, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The initiative has a goal of discovering and developing antiviral treatments in the form of tablets or pills that can treat infected individuals and reduce the risk of hospitalization and death from pathogens of pandemic potential.

Dr. Tseng’s project addresses an unmet need in its goal to increase the arsenal of treatment opportunities for pandemic influenza, particularly the currently circulating Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenzas - H5N1.

Using the facilities of the Galveston National Lab, the team will evaluate the efficacy of the novel investigational small molecule VNT-101, which was developed by Via Nova Therapeutics for treatment of seasonal influenza. Tseng’s team believes this new drug is likely to be effective against the bovine H5N1 strain, which is important should these viruses fully adapt to spread among humans in the future. They will test the efficacy of VNT-101 when administered alone and in combination with other FDA-approved influenza antivirals.

In commenting on the award, Dr. Tseng noted, “This award is the result of a genuine team effort.” The team, pictured above, includes Dr. Tseng as Principal Investigator, Pinghan Huang, Research Scientist, Panatda Saenkham-Huntsinger, Senior Research Scientist, Cassio Octaviani, Postdoctoral Fellow III, and Aleksandra Drelich, Senior Research Scientist. 

The Pandemic Antiviral Discovery initiative was launched with an initial commitment of $90 million in 2022, with the goal of ensuring that the world is prepared to quickly develop and equitably deploy effective, accessible antiviral treatments to counter future pandemic threats.  Through PAD, the funders collaborate with governments, academic institutions, and private sector funders to test small molecule antiviral candidates and increase their probability of advancing to the clinical trial stage.