AdAlta Limited provided an update on its lead program, AD-214 ­ a first in class i-body based therapeutic which is being developed for the treatment of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF). In December 2019, AdAlta announced it had been awarded a Biomedical Translation Bridge grant of up to $1 million in value by MTPConnect. The grant is designed to provide funding for the Company to develop a radio-labelled tracer that will enable AD-214 to be tracked using PET imaging when delivered to IPF patients. Using this tracer in IPF (and other fibrotic disease) patients is expected to provide strong, marketable data concerning AD-214 localisation, distribution and time on target for commercial discussions with potential pharmaceutical partners, as well as informing more efficient future development plans. The opportunity provided through this grant has led AdAlta to reassess the design of the overall Phase I clinical program to ensure that maximum clinical insights are generated as quickly as possible. The Company is now working to propose a Phase I program to ethics committees that incorporates an initial single dose component in healthy volunteers to confirm the safety and pharmaco-kinetic profile of AD-214, followed by single and multi-dose components in patients where the radio-labelled version of AD-214 may be used to image disease and track the homing of AD-214 to diseased tissue. The patient components are being designed to include patients with a range of fibrotic interstitial lung diseases (ILDs) of which IPF is one the most common. Broadening the range of eligible patients will improve recruitment and potentially extend the market opportunity for AD-214. Highlights: AD-214 trial protocol to now include both healthy volunteers and IPF/ILD patients and incorporate a radiolabelled version of AD-214. This design is expected to yield strongest data for partnering discussions. Development program to include an additional pre-clinical study. Combination of enhanced trial design and decision to conduct an additional pre-clinical study to slightly delay Phase I trial commencement to mid-2020. The Company has access to sufficient cash reserves to absorb the minor delay.