Abscisic acid therapeutic for pulmonary inflammation
This technology covers the use of abscisic acid (ABA), a natural plant hormone, to reduce lung inflammation caused by serious respiratory infections including influenza, tuberculosis, anthrax, and staph. When administered to mammals, ABA or its chemical relatives suppress the damaging immune overreaction in lung tissue — things like inflammatory cell buildup and airway damage — that often causes severe illness or death even after pathogens are cleared. The patent also covers using ABA to improve vaccine effectiveness as an adjuvant. ABA is already known to be safe in humans, which reduces one major regulatory hurdle.
What you could build
A pharmaceutical anti-inflammatory therapeutic or vaccine adjuvant based on ABA, targeting pulmonary infectious disease — most naturally positioned as a treatment for acute respiratory infections or a formulation additive for respiratory vaccines, bought by pharma companies or biodefense contractors developing pandemic or bioterrorism countermeasures.
Who in Virginia should care
Virginia-based biodefense contractors and government-adjacent pharma companies (proximate to BARDA, NIH, and USAMRIID) with active respiratory pathogen or countermeasure programs would be natural partners or licensees.
Readiness: Lab validated
Concept — described but not yet demonstrated. Lab validated — supported by experimental results in the patent. Prototype likely — the text describes a built, working embodiment.
Readiness is inferred from the patent text, not from a lab visit.
The record
- Inventors
- Josep Bassaganya-Riera, Amir Guri, Raquel Hontecillas
- Granted
- March 31, 2015
- Status
- Granted patent
- Patent number
- 8993624
Ready to talk?
Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties handles licensing for this technology.
Prosim summaries are generated from public patent text and are not legal advice.