Anti-inflammatory treatments, particularly those used in the context of viral infection, have been shown to greatly inhibit the overall immune response, which can result in poor immunity and failure to control or clear the infection. Novel alternatives that can effectively attenuate inflammation without the more serious side effects of steroid medications (e.g., global immune suppression, muscle weakness, etc.) may have substantial use across a wide range of disease areas.

Francisella tularensis (FT), the causative agent of tularemia, exhibits a potent ability to induce rapid suppression of inflammatory responses in host cells. Building on prior work that demonstrated the ability of crude and enriched lipids from virulent FT strains to dampen inflammation triggered by a variety of sources, researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) have developed FT lipid preparations with strong potential for the prophylactic/therapeutic treatment of viral-mediated inflammation—without deleterious effects on the development of anti-viral immunity.

The NIAID data further show that these FT lipid preparations are relatively non-toxic to cells, do not adversely affect the functioning of T cells, and act in part by inhibiting production of inflammatory mediators, highlighting other potential therapeutic targets such as allergic and autoimmune-associated inflammation.

This technology is available for licensing for commercial development in accordance with 35 U.S.C. § 209 and 37 CFR part 404.