Raleigh biotechnology company Agile Sciences has landed a $1.5 million National Institutes of Health grant to help develop its cystic fibrosis therapy derived from sea sponges.

Agile was spun out of North Carolina State University with the help of a $30,000 startup loan from the North Carolina Biotechnology Center. The company’s technology platform capitalizes on a chemical produced by the sea sponge to break up bacterial clumps called biofilms.