The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) Chemical and Biological Defense Program (CBDP) has extended the proposal receipt deadline for the Nanostructured Active Therapeutic Vehicles (NATV) initiative.
The NATV program seeks to advance nanostructured therapeutic materials designed for prophylactic or pre-symptomatic chemical and biological medical countermeasures. Two target-centric thrust areas are emphasized for novel advances:
Thrust 1: Small-molecule antibiotics, such as those used against Gram-negative bacterial pathogens, particularly Burkholderia mallei and Francisella tularensis. A particular challenge in this thrust is demonstration of targeting infected cells and transport of the therapeutic into the bacterium.
Thrust 2: Large-molecule bioscavenger Butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE) to deliver broad-spectrum protection against all classes of nerve agents.
The new submission date for proposals is January 25, 2013. Selections are expected to be announced on February 28, 2013.
