CILA Therapeutics Awarded NCATS Grant to Advance a Transformational Platform That Significantly Enhances Inhaled Delivery of RNA-LNP Into Lung Cells

August 14, 2025 at 10:40 AM EDT

CILA’s proprietary, gene-agnostic platform, CIL-Key™, is designed to enable the development of breakthrough inhaled RNA therapeutics and vaccines for pulmonary diseases — potentially unlocking new partnerships and pipeline expansion opportunities

CILA Therapeutics has been awarded a competitive grant from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to advance the development of its proprietary CIL-Key™ platform — a novel, gene-agnostic delivery technology that significantly and reproducibly enhances the transfection efficiency and delivery of inhaled RNA-loaded lipid nanoparticles (RNA-LNPs) into lung epithelial cells.

In preclinical studies, the CIL-Key™ platform (also referred to as CIL-0X in the grant) achieved up to a 430% increase in delivery of functionally intact RNA into human bronchial epithelial cells cultured at an air-liquid interface (ALI), demonstrating utility across multiple RNA-LNP formulations.

“This milestone provides strong validation of CILA’s scientific approach and vision to deliver practical, scalable and patient-centric solutions for some of the most formidable challenges in pulmonary medicine,” said Safia Rizvi, CEO of CILA Therapeutics.

CIL-Key™ is designed to enable efficient, localized intracellular delivery of RNA-based modalities while minimizing systemic exposure. The platform could offer significant advantages for companies developing inhaled RNA therapies and vaccines for a broad range of lung diseases, including Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia (PCD), Cystic Fibrosis (CF), COPD and Pulmonary Fibrosis, as well as respiratory infections including influenza, RSV and COVID-19.

Chronic pulmonary diseases affect more than 34 million people in the U.S. and more than 545 million globally. These often progressive, life-limiting conditions have a significant impact on quality of life and a high economic burden, creating an urgent demand for novel, effective and easy-to-administer treatments like those powered by CIL-Key™.

About CILA Therapeutics

CILA Therapeutics is a biotechnology company focused on improving lung health through transformative, scalable, accessible therapies and technologies that easily integrate into patients’ daily lives. Its vision is to empower people with pulmonary diseases to breathe easily and live fully. CILA’s pipeline includes first-in-class inhaled therapeutics and CIL-Key™, a proprietary platform to enhance delivery of RNA-based therapeutics and vaccines targeting a wide spectrum of pulmonary diseases. Visit www.cilatx.com.

CILA is actively seeking strategic partnerships to expand the platform’s application across diverse RNA-based pipelines for rare and common pulmonary indications.