Developed by Dr. Serhat Gumrukçu, PhD, director of Seraph Research Institute, the inhaled drug tricks the viruses to trigger the cells they infect to commit suicide instead of becoming virus-making factories. Delivered via a nanoparticle, the drug either rapidly treats an infection or waits for a cell to become infected before attacking it. It's possible a single inhalation of the drug could both treat and protect against infection for relatively long periods of time, according to Enochian.

The firm is requesting a preinvestigational new drug meeting with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) soon.

Financial details of the license were not disclosed.