Lila Bio wins $3.65M NIH grant for pulmonary hypertension

Lila Bio said it won a $3.65 million NIH Small Business Innovation Research Fast-Track grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute to develop a protein-based treatment for pulmonary hypertension. The Seattle startup announced the award on Nov. 10, and GeekWire reported a day later that the funding is structured as two phases: an initial $605,981 tranche followed by a second phase worth $3,049,462.

The company is building long-acting injectable protein therapeutics for non-oncology uses, including pulmonary hypertension, according to its website. GeekWire reported that the pulmonary hypertension program uses AI and machine learning to design proteins intended to stay active in the body for weeks or months, potentially allowing injections only a few times per year.

Pulmonary hypertension is a serious condition involving high blood pressure in the lungs. In the reporting cited by GeekWire, CEO Jake Kraft said the company is aiming for disease-modifying therapies rather than medicines that mainly manage symptoms. Kraft also said in a LinkedIn post, as quoted by GeekWire, that existing approved therapies mostly manage symptoms and that Lila is pursuing disease-modifying mechanisms.

What grant did Lila Bio receive?

Lila Bio said it received a $3.65 million NIH SBIR Fast-Track grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute for its pulmonary hypertension program. The company described the award on its website, while GeekWire later reported the same total and said the grant is divided into an initial phase of $605,981 and a second phase of $3,049,462.

The award is a research grant, not equity financing. GeekWire reported that the first phase will support testing in mice, rats and non-human primates, while the second phase will fund further animal testing and studies using lung tissue from patients.

What does the NIH grant fund?

The award is designed to support early development work for Lila Bio's pulmonary hypertension program. GeekWire reported that the first phase will support testing in mice, rats and non-human primates, while the second phase will fund further animal testing and studies using lung tissue from patients.

Lila Bio's website says the funded program is developing long-acting injectable protein therapeutics for non-oncology indications, including pulmonary hypertension. The company also says it uses an AI-powered protein design engine and a high-throughput discovery platform called LILADD.

Why is Lila Bio pursuing a long-acting injectable?

Lila Bio says it wants medicines that are more convenient to administer and remain active for months, which could matter for chronic diseases that require ongoing treatment. The company says its non-oncology programs aim for long-acting pharmacokinetics with a plasma half-life of months and seek convenient high-dose subcutaneous formulations.

GeekWire reported that the pulmonary hypertension program is intended to produce a protein-based treatment that could be injected a few times a year. In an earlier interview cited by GeekWire, Kraft said the company wants to bring medicines to patients and not just design proteins.

GeekWire reported that Lila uses two platforms: one for long-acting injectable pulmonary hypertension drugs and another for targeted radiotherapy that delivers radioactive isotopes to tumors through proteins.

Who is behind Lila Bio?

Lila Bio was co-founded in 2023 by Jake Kraft and Anindya Roy, both of whom previously worked as postdoctoral fellows at the University of Washington's Institute for Protein Design, according to GeekWire. Lila's website also lists Hua Bai as director of protein design and co-founder, and Sheila Gujrathi as board executive chair and co-founder.

The company's site identifies David Baker as a scientific founder and describes him as professor and director of the UW Institute for Protein Design and a 2024 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry. Lila also lists a group of cardio-pulmonary advisers that includes Dean Sheppard, Sébastien Bonnet, John Ryan, Toby Maher, Peter Leary, Ganesh Raghu, Ahmet Tutuncu and Anna Galkin.

GeekWire reported that Lila raised $10 million in seed funding in 2023. The startup's website lists investors including WRF, SilverArc, Sahsen Boom, Alexandria Venture Investments and Pack VC. In 2025, Lila also announced a collaboration with Eli Lilly to develop treatments for solid tumors, according to GeekWire and a Sept. 4, 2025 item on the company's site.