Cleveland BioLabs Gets Department of Defense Development Grant

Cleveland BioLabs received a grant from the Department of Defense's Defense Threat Reduction Agency to fund development of its radiation countermeasure compound

The grant, for Cleveland BioLabs' Protectan CBLB502, is designed to fund "development leading to the acquisition" of the drug. Cleveland BioLabs put the amount of the grant at between $1.3 and $2.4 million.

The company's shares jumped on the news.

Protectan is designed to treat radiation-induced injuries to the blood and immune system. Cleveland BioLabws will develop the drug in tandem with the Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute, which also has attained funding for work on Protectan.

Cleveland BioLabs said Friday that it completed a $30 million private placement of shares that it projects will give it two years of working capital. Cleveland BioLabs is developing drugs for radiation protection, cancer treatment and stem cell proliferation.

This month, Hollis-Eden Pharmaceuticals said the U.S. government canceled its request for proposal (RFP) for a contract for its drug to treat acute radiation syndrome, sending its shares into a nosedive.

Hollis-Eden said at the time that it plans to meet with the government to find out the reason for canceling the RFP for the drug, Neumune.