ReAlta CEO, Dr Howard Berman, Discusses How Complement, Neutrophil, and Myeloperoxidase Inhibition May Transform HIE Treatment

In a sit-down interview with BioPharm International® at the 2026 BIO International Convention (BIO 2026), Howard Berman, PhD, CEO of ReAlta Life Sciences, discussed the company's lead drug candidate, a product derived from an astrovirus capsid protein, and its multi-pathway mechanism of action in hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), a neuronal injury condition occurring in newborns deprived of oxygen at birth.¹

Dr Berman explains how the drug candidate originated from the observation that astrovirus, a virus that has coexisted with human hosts for billions of years and causes self-limiting gastroenteritis,² does not trigger inflammation. He notes that researchers at Virginia-based institutions identified an amino acid sequence on the outer layer of the astrovirus capsid protein responsible for this anti-inflammatory effect, and ReAlta researchers isolated that sequence as the basis for the company’s therapeutic platform.

How does ReAlta's multi-pathway approach address the complexity of neonatal neuroinflammation?

Through subsequent research, Dr Berman says, the company determined that the compound inhibits complement at the C1 level, which is at the top of the complement cascade, as well as neutrophil activity and myeloperoxidase. In HIE, neuronal injury and associated inflammation are driven simultaneously by complement activation, neutrophil infiltration, neutrophil extracellular traps, and the broader innate immune system.¹ Dr Berman emphasizes that hitting all of these targets concurrently is essential to slowing disease progression.

"Being able to hit all these targets at once is so critically and verifiably important to ameliorate the disease, and that's what we believe is going to be a transformation in this condition," he states.

Dr Berman also notes that the drug candidate has been well tolerated to date, which he attributes to the biological origins of the compound. He describes the company’s platform as a bench-to-bedside translational medicine story, with the multi-pathway activity having been identified progressively through research rather than by design at the outset.

BIO 2026 runs June 22-25 in San Diego.

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About the speaker

Howard Berman, PhD, CEO, ReAlta Life Sciences

In addition to his role as CEO, Dr Berman also serves as chairman of the board of ReAlta. He is also the founder of Coya Therapeutics. His other roles include board member of Atea Pharmaceuticals and board observer of Mammogen. He has more than 20 years of entrepreneurial, technology transfer, and industry experience working at the interplay of science and business. Dr Berman graduated with highest honors from the University of Michigan with a Bachelor in Biology, and from Weill Cornell Medical School with a Masters and PhD in Neuroscience and Pharmacology.

References

1. Greco P, Nencini G, Piva I, et al. Pathophysiology of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy: a review of the past and a view on the future. Acta Neurol Belg. 2020;120(2):277-288. doi:10.1007/s13760-020-01308-3
2. Payne S. Family Astroviridae. Viruses. 2017:125–128. doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-803109-4.00014-3