Seek Labs has been awarded $2 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to develop a novel, mutation-resistant therapeutic for highly pathogenic avian influenza using its proprietary Programmable Target Ablation Platform. The funding is part of a broader federal effort to combat the ongoing spread of avian influenza, which has disrupted poultry production, driven up egg and poultry prices, and strained the global food supply.
The award falls under APHIS’s $100 million HPAI Grand Challenge, a multi-year initiative developed with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to accelerate innovation across prevention, vaccines, therapeutics, and biosecurity. As part of the program, Seek Labs will collaborate with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to advance cross-border surveillance and response efforts.
Rather than focusing on a single viral strain, Seek Labs is developing a programmable therapeutic that combines CRISPR-based molecular constructs with an AI-driven genomic intelligence system. The company’s platform continuously analyzes how the virus evolves in real time, identifying conserved genomic regions that remain stable even as highly pathogenic avian influenza mutates across geographies and species. These stable regions are then targeted for disruption to maintain therapeutic effectiveness as new variants emerge.
Avian influenza remains highly contagious and lethal to domestic poultry, capable of wiping out entire flocks within days. The virus has also recently spread to dairy cows, raising additional concerns about food safety, economic impacts, and public health preparedness.
The project will be led by Douglas Gladue, Vice President of Veterinary Pharma at Seek Labs, and Yohannes Berhane, Head of the Avian Disease Research Unit at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
Seek Labs is headquartered in Salt Lake City and is a member of BioHive, Utah’s life sciences ecosystem. The company positions itself as a programmable disease-response platform that detects, protects, and counters emerging biological threats by converting biological information into actionable data to inform both therapeutics and molecular diagnostics.
KEY QUOTES
“HPAI is a persistent, evolving threat with real consequences for food security, agricultural stability, and global health preparedness. By pairing BioSeeker, our disease intelligence layer, with PTAP’s programmable design, we’re building a pan-HPAI therapeutic that is designed for viral evolution and remains effective as the virus evolves.”
Alison O’Mahony, Senior Vice President of Research at Seek Labs
“As the world faces an accelerating emergence of disease—from natural pandemics to potential AI-generated threats—current response systems remain reactive, slow and unable to adapt as pathogens evolve. At Seek Labs, we approach disease as a dynamic problem that requires an adaptable system. By converting biological information into data, our platforms can be programmed to target and respond to diseases faster than traditional approaches.”
Jared Bauer, Co-Founder and CEO of Seek Labs
“Highly pathogenic avian influenza continues to pose complex and evolving risks to animal health, food systems, and economic stability. Addressing a threat of this scale requires sustained research, scientific innovation, and cross-border collaboration. We are excited to be working alongside Seek Labs to address this ongoing threat.”
Yohannes Berhane, Head of the Avian Disease Research Unit at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency
