Island Pharmaceuticals (ASX:ILA) secured a master service agreement with Texas Biomedical Research Institute, a biosafety level 4 facility in the US that can conduct preclinical infectious disease research using non-human primates, for potential studies to support the development of the company's antiviral molecule, galidesivir, according to a Wednesday Australian bourse filing.

The US Food and Drug Administration had earlier confirmed that the animal rule pathway is appropriate for the approval of Marburg virus countermeasures, and that galidesivir would qualify for a tropical disease priority review voucher on approval.

Preclinical infectious disease research using non-human primates would be required to advance galidesivir via the animal rule path, the filing said.

Island Pharmaceuticals' shares jumped over 2% in recent trading on Wednesday.