SymBio Pharmaceuticals Limited announced that SymBio has entered into a Collaborative Research and Development Agreement for brincidofovir (BCV) with the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, part of the National Institutes of Health in the United States. The purpose of this CRADA is to verify the efficacy of BCV as an anti-viral therapeutic for Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)in the treatment of multiple sclerosis, by conducting in-vitro and animal model studies using cells derived from patients with multiple sclerosis associated with EBV infection, and to obtain necessary data with a view to future clinical trials. In August 2022, SymBio entered into a collaboration agreement for the transfer of materials with NINDS to evaluate the antiviral effects of BCV against EBV, and NINDS has already conducted non-clinical studies to evaluate the potential efficacy of the BCV.

A Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) is a formal agreement that facilitates research and development collaborations between federal laboratories at a government agency and a non-federal partner such as a private company or university, to jointly pursue common research goals. The purpose of the CRADA is to make available government facilities, intellectual property, and expertise for collaborative interactions that lead to the development of useful, marketable products that benefit public health. Under the CRADA, the Collaborator is granted the first option to take a license, for any inventions that are made jointly by NIH inventors/researchers and the Collaborator's inventors/researchers during the research program or by NIH inventors/researchers alone.