Daré Bioscience said it received a $908,000 notice of award from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to advance its DARE-PTB2 program, an early-stage investigational therapy for the prevention of idiopathic preterm birth.
The award, issued under NIH grant number R44HD113465, will fund initial preclinical pharmacokinetic, safety, and toxicity studies. The NIH also recommended future-year support of $1.3 million to complete these studies, bringing total federal funding for the program to approximately $1.7 million.
Daré previously received about $400,000 from the NICHD in July 2023 to support earlier preclinical development, including proof-of-concept target validation studies. The company’s president and CEO, Sabrina Martucci Johnson, said the new award provides non-dilutive funding critical to advancing DARE-PTB2.
Preterm birth, defined as delivery before 37 weeks of pregnancy, remains a leading cause of infant morbidity and mortality globally, with no FDA-approved therapeutic options currently available to reduce risk. The DARE-PTB2 program targets idiopathic preterm birth, a subset lacking a clear underlying cause.
