# PROMOTING T CELL RECOVERY AFTER RADIATION INJURY WITH LONG-ACTING INTERLEUKIN 7

> **NIH NIH N01** · DUKE UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $1,999,087

## Abstract

This proposal is designed to assess a long-acting interleukin 7 product, NT-I7, on phenotypic and functional T cell recovery after total body irradiation at radiation doses simulating exposures that would be expected during a radiation mass casualty incident. Clinical-grade NT-I7 is produced by NeoImmuneTech, Inc. (Rockville, Maryland), and is a recombinant human IL-7 immunoglobulin fusion protein that is more potent, stable, and longer acting than endogenous human IL-7. IL-7 is a cytokine involved in several areas of the adaptive immune system including thymopoiesis and NT-I7 acts as an exogenous form of IL-7 that exhibits beneficial effects on T cell recovery and increased antigen (Ag)-specific T cell response to viral infection. In preclinical studies NT-I7 has demonstrated beneficial preliminary results for T cell reconstitution after total body irradiation in mouse models. This is important because T lymphocytes are the most radiation sensitive blood cell type, a critical component of the immune response to infection – a significant risk following radiation injury – and there are no FDA approved drugs to support T cell recovery after radiation exposure.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 11165542
- **Project number:** 75N93024C00005-0-9999-1
- **Recipient organization:** DUKE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** BENNY CHEN
- **Activity code:** N01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $1,999,087
- **Award type:** —
- **Project period:** 2024-03-01 → 2025-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11165542

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11165542, PROMOTING T CELL RECOVERY AFTER RADIATION INJURY WITH LONG-ACTING INTERLEUKIN 7 (75N93024C00005-0-9999-1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-01 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/11165542. Licensed CC0.

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