SIGA Announces Lead Smallpox Drug Begins Preclinical Development

SIGA Technologies has announced that its smallpox drug, SIGA-246, has entered preclinical development.

Based on an emerging understanding of the mechanism of action and protective efficacy in four different murine (mouse) challenge models, SIGA-246 has progressed to preclinical lead status. SIGA has initiated investigational new drug application-enabling scale-up synthesis, formulation, pharmacology and toxicology studies on the drug to allow primate efficacy and human safety studies to be performed later this year.