3/19/25 — Press Release

Altesa BioSciences Announces Clearance of Investigational New Drug (IND) Application for Vapendavir

Treat underlying cause of COPD versus maintaining status quo of expensive, chronic therapies

College Park, GA — Altesa BioSciences, a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company dedicated to developing new treatments for viral infections in vulnerable populations, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared Altesa’s new Investigational New Drug (IND) application for vapendavir for the treatment of rhinovirus infections in people living with COPD. This milestone paves the way for Altesa to initiate clinical trials in the United States for this patient population.

3/19/25 — New York Times

Trump Administration Dialing Back Support for H.I.V. Prevention

The initiative aimed to prevent infections in poor Black communities, and among gay and bisexual men and transgender women, some of the groups with the highest risk of contracting H.I.V. 

“It was not his constituency,” Adm. Brett Giroir, who served as deputy secretary of health and human services in the first Trump administration, said in an interview last fall. But “the president was wildly supportive of that.” The states where the initiative’s efforts were focused cut new infections overall by more than 20 percent by 2022. “That’s exactly what we were trying to do, and we did it,” Admiral Giroir said on Tuesday.

3/21/25 — Politico Pro

Giroir wraps-up work as special government employee advising HHS

Dr. Brett Giroir, assistant secretary for health in the first Trump administration, is wrapping up his work Friday as a special government employee advising HHS. He is CEO of Altesa BioSciences.

2/13/25 — Politico

Former Trump Covid testing czar returns to HHS

Giroir working at HHS in temporary unpaid role as special government employee

Brett Giroir, who led President Donald Trump’s efforts to boost Covid-19 testing, is back at HHS. The former official — who was tapped to advise incoming HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on infectious diseases — is one of the few returning senior health officers from Trump’s first term. 

After departing government, Giroir joined Altesa BioSciences as its chief executive officer, a biopharmaceutical company that has early-stage antiviral medicines in development for Rhinovirus and Hepatitis C.

For all media inquires, please contact Mia Palmieri Heck at (210) 284-0388 or at mheck@altesa.com.