Evrys Bio, a nine-year-old biotechnology firm in Doylestown, landed a $34 million contract from the U.S. Department of Defense. The government agency seeks a drug to counteract multiple high-risk viral agents, reports John George for the Philadelphia Business Journal.

Evrys develops next-generation antiviral medicines. The company’s technology platform is based on Princeton University research on human proteins, called sirtuins, that defend against pathogen invasion.

Defense Department funding for the initiative comes from its Defense Threat Reduction Agency’s Chem Bio Technologies, Vaccines and Therapeutics Division. The contract runs five years.

Lillian Chiang, CEO of Evrys Bio, said the company’s collaboration with the federal government extends its new drug candidate pipeline. Evrys hopes to be able to address pan-respiratory, pan-hepatic, and pan-opportunistic viral infections.

Evrys’ drug will target the human SIRT-2 protein. Researchers intend for it to improve disease survival after exposure to viruses from three families:

• Alphaviruses
• Arenaviruses
• Filoviruses

The full contract amount is contingent upon the company achieving a series of product development milestones. These include drug-prototype identification, proof-of-concept, and regulatory filings.

More on this U.S. Government/private industry collaboration is at the Philadelphia Business Journal.