Published: October 05, 2010
Altravax, Inc. Awarded $1.2 Million in Federal Funds for Vaccines for HIV/AIDS
FARGO, N.D. - (BUSINESS WIRE) - Altravax, Inc. announced today that it has been awarded two SBIR grants
totaling $1.2 million from the NIH's National Institute of Allergy and
Infectious Diseases for research on antibody-inducing vaccines for
HIV-1. A 2009 report from the United Nations has estimated the total
number of people living with AIDS is now at over 30 million. Altravax
will use its proprietary MolecularBreeding directed evolution
technology to create vaccines that provide broad protection against the
various strains of HIV-1. The existence of a large number of virus
strains and the continued changing nature of the virus is one of the
major challenges facing the development of vaccines for HIV/AIDS.
Dr. Robert Whalen, the Chief Scientific Officer at Altravax, is one of
the leaders in the development of the MolecularBreeding technology
platform for use in the vaccine area. "Our past research activities have
made significant progress in developing novel vaccine antigens to
broadly target the numerous HIV-1 strains and we are pleased that the
NIH is continuing to support our research on HIV vaccines," said Dr.
Whalen. "This continued federal support is a critical factor in our
program to develop a preventative vaccine to combat the AIDS epidemic."
Altravax also recently received a third NIH SBIR grant for $600,000 to
support its research on "Improved Vaccines for Influenza B Virus" to
create vaccines that provide broad protection against the two influenza
B virus strains that co-circulate each flu season. Including its
development of a therapeutic vaccine to treat chronic hepatitis B
infection, Altravax is focusing on three areas of major importance for
improving human health: hepatitis B, influenza and HIV.
In January 2010, Altravax acquired from Maxygen, Inc. (Nasdaq: MAXY)
exclusive rights to the MolecularBreeding technology platform for the
development of vaccines to infectious diseases.
About Altravax, Inc.
Altravax, Inc. is a privately held biopharmaceutical company with
headquarters in Fargo, ND and research laboratories in Sunnyvale, CA.
Altravax was founded based on the strength of a proven technology
platform that can produce novel vaccine candidates with the potential to
protect humans from infectious diseases and improve health globally.
Arthur Ventures, LLC
Media Contact:
James B. Burgum,
701-232-3521
james@arthurventures.com
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