The email from Fred Hutch reads:

“Thank you for your continued interest and support of our HSV cure research. We have some positive news to share regarding progress in developing and protecting our HSV gene therapy technology. First, the business development group at Fred Hutch Cancer Center has worked with our team and external collaborators to establish a company called Caladan Therapeutics. Creating a company is a common and essential step in developing medical treatments, diagnostics and other tools that improve human health. Having a company structure helps us protect the intellectual property of the HSV gene therapy as it continues to develop and will support our work with federal regulators as we progress toward clinical implementation. Second, this business relationship expands opportunities for potential funding, and we are pleased to share that, together, my lab at Fred Hutch and Caladan Therapeutics will receive a small business technology grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH STTR Program). Our success in securing this early-stage grant is powerful validation of our therapeutic strategy, and it will provide modest funding for two years to help support necessary regulatory and pre-clinical steps of our HSV gene therapies. If we are successful over the next two years, we may also be eligible for later-stage grants that would provide additional support. While the new grant funding is certainly welcome, this early-stage award will support only a small portion of our HSV cure program. We remain sincerely grateful to the community of supporters whose generosity is so essential to maintaining our momentum, and we are happy to share this update with you all.

Sincerely,

Dr. Keith Jerome”

Not gonna lie, the call for more funding at the end is kind of leaving a sour taste in my mouth considering the timing of hitting the target on their website.