NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Trana Discovery said today that it has completed a $720,000 Series A financing round to support development of a high-throughput platform for screening infectious disease treatments.
Trana, based in Cary, NC, said that undisclosed angel investors contributed to the financing round. Trana also said that Gary Shipman, managing partner of Wilmington, NC-based law firm Shipman & Wright, helped secure the funding and will join the company's board of directors.
Trana's screening assays identify compounds that work by inhibiting the ability of infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi to use transfer RNA, which is essential for propagation, the company said.
The company recently completed a pilot study with the Southern Research Institute to identify compounds that interfere with the ability of HIV to use tRNA to propagate.
As a result of this pilot study, Trana is now working with SRI to screen an additional 300,000 compounds and test selected lead compounds under a $700,000 grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease.