900036ICURE Aid for Start Ups Cohort 4 - Trimunocor LimitedClosedStudyInnovate UKThe incidence of preterm birth is increasing and over half of premature babies less than 28 weeks gestation develop neonatal chronic lung disease (nCLD). Survivors with nCLD have long-term lung damage resulting in frequent infections, asthma and emphysema in later life as well as associated neurodevelopmental problems such as cerebral palsy. The health and societal costs from prematurity are estimated at $26.2 billion per annum in the US alone. There are currently no treatments to prevent nCLD. In nCLD, severe asthma and COPD there is a deficiency of the naturally protective anti-inflammatory human surfactant protein D (SP-D). We have developed a novel way to produce a functional fragment of SP-D (rfhSP-D) and founded a start-up company, Trimunocor Ltd, to develop rfhSP-D into a preventive treatment for nCLD. The Aid for Start-up funding would pump prime the process development of a scale-able rfhSP-D manufacture process. If we demonstrate the commercial feasibility of manufacture, we are confident that we will secure subsequent funding from investors and pharmaceutical partners to undertake clinical trials and develop rfhSP-D as a new treatment to prevent nCLD.