Alveolus Bio
Alveolus Bio is a pharmaceutical company founded in 2021 by C. Vivek Lal as a spinoff of ResBiotic, furthering his research as head of UAB's Pulmonary Microbiome Laboratory, and under the umbrella of his Biostack Ventures health innovation studio. The company has offices at Southern Research's Station 41 biotech incubator, and in the Cambridge Innovation Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The current CEO, working in Cambridge, is Gaurav Mehta.
ResBiotic has worked broadly on the development of consumer-grade respitory probiotic treatments targeting the gut-lung axis to improve digestive and immune system health. The company's research into inhalable therapeutics for treatment of lung conditions produced strong early results, and led the company to spin off a pharmaceutical discovery arm, named Alveolus, for the tiny lung sacs where gases are exchanged with the bloodstream.
Shortly after spinning off from ResBiotic, Alveolus Bio became a member of the Washington D.C.-based Microbiome Therapeutics Innovation Group (MTIG).
The company is in the clinical phase of developing live, inhalable biotherapeutics for treatment of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia, Pulmonary Fibrosis, Neutrophilic Asthma, and lung injuries caused by viral infections. Alveolus Bio is also in the early stages of developing similar therapeutics for treatment of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH), Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome, and Cystic Fibrosis (CF).
In 2023 Alveolus Bio was awarded a $2.5 million Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) FastTrack grant from the National Institutes of Health to fund development of its potential COPD treatment. In 2024 it moved from Innovation Depot to Station 41.
References
- Hansen, Jeff (May 5, 2021) "UAB spinoff to treat chronic respiratory disease announces $3 million seed funding" UAB News
- Patchen, Tyler (October 28, 2021) "ResBiotic creates drug development spinoff, launches its first consumer health product, raises $4.5 million" Birmingham Business Journal
- Thrailkill, Laurel (June 6, 2022) "Birmingham microbiome-based nutrition company presents new data at international meeting." Birmingham Business Journal
- Hansen, Jeff (November 14, 2022) "A live biotherapeutic product reduces lung damage in a neonatal mouse model of chronic lung disease" UAB News
- Thrailkill, Laurel (February 16, 2023) "Birmingham bioscience company awarded multimillion-dollar grant." Birmingham Business Journal
- "Southern Research opens new Station 41 biotech incubator for startups." (January 23, 2024) southernresearch.org
External links
- Alveolus Bio website