ENA Respiratory Awarded Biointelect Venturer Funding to Support New Study in Asthma Patients of INNA-051 Nasal Spray Designed to Protect Against Symptomatic Viral Respiratory Infections

MELBOURNE, Australia, Sept. 01, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ENA Respiratory, a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company developing host defence enhancers for the prevention of complications associated with respiratory viral infections in at-risk populations, today announces it has been awarded AUD $2,980,000 in funding from Australia’s Biointelect Venturer as part of its inaugural funding round.

The funding will support a first-in-patients study in Australia of INNA-051, in patients with asthma.

The Phase Ib study (ENA-A-04) will be a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study evaluating the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of intranasal INNA-051 in adults with asthma. The trial is expected to start in Q1 2027.

Currently in a Phase IIa community study in the USA, INNA-051 is a virus-agnostic, once-weekly, dry powder nasal spray that primes the natural antiviral host defences in the nose where common respiratory viruses like colds, flu, RSV and coronaviruses primarily enter, enabling the body to respond more quickly when challenged. INNA-051 therapy aims to reduce the incidence of complications in patients at higher risk of severe illness.

Biointelect Venturer is Australia's new national incubator for vaccine and infectious disease innovation, funded by the Australian Government's Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) through the 2024 BioMedTech Incubator Grant Opportunity.

ENA Respiratory’s CEO, Christophe Demaison, PhD said: “We are proud to have received this grant from Biointelect Venturer. It will enable us to expand our clinical program in a high-risk patient population. Patients with asthma are at significant risk of complications from respiratory infections and this study will inform future development in this group and other at-risk populations such as those with other chronic respiratory conditions like COPD.”

Asthma is characterised by an intrinsic delay in innate antiviral responses, which allows viruses to spread to the lower respiratory tract, driving uncontrolled airway inflammation and worsening clinical symptoms. Preclinical and safety pharmacology studies have demonstrated that intranasally delivered INNA-051 is not expected to exacerbate asthma and has the potential to restore the innate immune response and significantly reduce rhinovirus load in ex vivo bronchial epithelial cells derived from donors with moderate-to-severe asthma. These findings support the continued development of INNA-051 for this patient population.

Biointelect Venturer General Manager, Danielle Shand, said: “This inaugural cohort of funding recipients, including ENA Respiratory, reflects exactly what Biointelect Venturer was established to do: accelerate high-quality Australian infectious disease innovations that address significant local and global health priorities and deliver investment-ready ventures.

“These companies can deliver substantial value through their discoveries but often face difficult early investment conditions and critical gaps between research and commercial readiness. By combining catalytic funding with hands-on commercialisation support, we can help promising technologies close those gaps.”

ENA Respiratory is currently conducting the Phase II ‘POSITS’ study (NCT07222670) evaluating the safety, tolerability and efficacy of a once-weekly treatment with INNA-051 for up to three months and assessing its impact on the incidence, duration and severity of symptomatic infections caused by common respiratory viruses, including influenza, RSV, rhinovirus, and coronaviruses in young adult participants at risk of illness due to living or working in crowded environments. The first stage of the study was successfully completed in May 2026 and Part B is expected to start dosing in the next North American respiratory virus season.

About ENA Respiratory

ENA Respiratory is a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company tackling respiratory viral infections through the development of host defence enhancers, which locally prime and boost the body’s natural first line of defence against invading pathogens. Being virus-agnostic, ENA’s approach offers a solution to protect against common and emerging respiratory viruses for which vaccines or direct-acting antivirals have limitations or do not exist.

The company’s lead product, INNA-051, is being developed as a convenient, once-weekly nasal dry powder product to reduce the impact of viral respiratory infections and prevent severe complications in at-risk populations, including the elderly, those with an underlying medical condition (including chronic lung conditions, diabetes, kidney disease, and cardiovascular disease) and individuals with occupational risk (e.g. first responders, military or essential services personnel).

INNA-051 is a potent agonist of toll-like receptor 2/6 (TLR2/6) which plays a key role in recognising pathogens and potentiating innate immune responses. With a safety profile supporting seasonal prophylaxis use, it has demonstrated accelerated virus clearance and stimulation of antiviral host defences, including IFN Type I & III responses, in a Phase IIa proof-of-principle study using a human influenza-challenge model.

Headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, with operations in the USA, ENA’s Investors include Brandon Capital, Flu Lab, the Gates Foundation, the Minderoo Foundation, Stoic Venture Capital and Uniseed. The Company is partnered with the US COPD Foundation to support patient-focused clinical development of INNA-051 in COPD and has been awarded contracts from the U.S. Government. It is also supported by Biointelect Venturer, Australia's national vaccine and infectious disease incubator and is an alumni member of BLUE KNIGHT™, a joint initiative between Johnson & Johnson Innovation and BARDA designed to accelerate novel potential solutions for future pandemics.

For more information, please visit https://enarespiratory.com

Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/enarespiratory-pty-ltd/

For further information, please contact:

Media – Australia

Ruth Heenan, E: rheenan@bcpvc.com M: +61 (0)416 565 332

Media – International

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