Mosquito-Borne Disease Identified as Emerging
Public Health Threat for Americans
CRANBURY, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--VaxInnate
Corporation announced today that it has been awarded a grant by the
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to fund
the development of a recombinant vaccine for the prevention of dengue, a
disease that kills an estimated 25,000 people annually. VaxInnate is a
biotechnology firm pioneering breakthrough technology for developing
novel vaccines.
“We’re pleased to receive this grant and look forward to working with
NIAID to develop a vaccine to prevent dengue, a disease that poses an
increasing public health threat worldwide”
The grant provides funding of $2.2 million over a period of three years
to develop a recombinant tetravalent dengue vaccine using VaxInnate’s
proprietary technology. The technology involves genetically fusing
vaccine antigens to the bacterial protein flagellin, a potent stimulator
of the innate immune system, which dramatically improves the potency,
manufacturing capacity and cost-effectiveness of vaccines.
NIAID is part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), an agency
of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). NIAID
conducts and supports research to better understand, treat and prevent
infectious, immunologic and allergic diseases.
“We’re pleased to receive this grant and look forward to working with
NIAID to develop a vaccine to prevent dengue, a disease that poses an
increasing public health threat worldwide,” said Wayne Pisano, President
and CEO of VaxInnate. “VaxInnate’s selection for this grant is another
endorsement of the potential of our proprietary technology to meet
critical and emerging public health threats.”
The NIAID grant is VaxInnate’s fourth funding opportunity from the U.S.
Government. The company previously received earmarks from the Department
of Defense (DoD) for the development of vaccines to prevent dengue and
malaria. Under a 2011 contract with the Biomedical Advanced Research and
Development Authority (BARDA), part of the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services (HHS), VaxInnate is using recombinant technology to
develop pandemic and seasonal influenza vaccines.
Growing Threat of Dengue
Dengue -- pronounced den' gee -- is a mosquito-borne viral
disease. There are four distinct, but closely related, serotypes of the
virus that cause dengue. Dengue causes a flu-like illness marked by
fever, severe headaches and extreme joint and muscle pain. The severe
form of the disease is dengue hemorrhagic fever, which can be fatal.
There is no cure for dengue infection; patients are treated with fluids
and drugs to reduce fever.
There are an estimated 100 million cases of dengue and 25,000 deaths
annually. Dengue is endemic in at least 100 countries in Asia, the
Pacific, the Americas, Africa, and the Caribbean. Although the disease
was primarily associated with tropical and sub-tropical areas, dengue
has been growing dramatically in recent decades.
Transmission has increased predominantly in urban and semi-urban areas
and has become a major international public health concern. Half the
world’s population of 2.5 billion people is now at risk for dengue,
according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Spread of the disease
is blamed in part on growing international trade, which carries infected
mosquitoes around the world in cargo.
Although dengue has rarely occurred in the continental United States, it
is endemic in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and many tourist
destinations popular with Americans. Dengue outbreaks were reported in
Hawaii in 2001, Texas in 2005 and the Florida Keys between 2009 and
2011, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
About VaxInnate
VaxInnate is a privately-held biotechnology company in Cranbury, NJ that
is pioneering breakthrough technology for use in developing novel and
proprietary vaccines. VaxInnate’s vaccines focus on infectious diseases,
including seasonal and pandemic flu, dengue and malaria.
In 2011, Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA),
part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), awarded
a contract
to VaxInnate worth up to $196 million over five years to fund the
development of seasonal and pandemic flu vaccines using recombinant
technology.
VaxInnate has already generated positive Phase I and Phase II clinical
data for its flu vaccines. These prototype vaccines also demonstrated
superior potency in elderly subjects. For more information about
VaxInnate, visit http://www.vaxinnate.com
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