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news.The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of the National Institutes of Health has granted a Phase II Small Business Innovation and Research (SBIR) award to Antigen Discovery (ADi).
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The three-year, $2.5m award is a continuation to phase I SBIR grant to scan the Plasmodium falciparum proteome for protective antigens.
As part of the research, ADi proteome microarrays will be used to identify biomarkers associated with responses to the administration of Sanaria’s malaria products in human trials.
ADi founder and chairman and principal investigator Philip Felgner said, ”By comparing the serum antibody profiles from vaccines who are protected with those who are not, we aim to identify surrogate antibody biomarkers associated with sporozoite vaccine mediated protection."
Sanaria founder and CSO Stephen Hoffman said, "This is an unprecedented opportunity to exploit ADi’s unique technology to advance our understanding of protective immunity against malaria, and thereby accelerate development and licensure of a highly effective malaria vaccine."
The serum samples of the volunteers will also be analyzed from clinical studies conducted at Radboud University Nijmengen Medical Center (RUNMC) in the Netherlands.
RUNMC studies director Robert Sauerwein said, "This is a very exciting opportunity to gain significant insights into how PfSPZ works to provide robust protection against malaria."
ADi president and CEO Xiaowu Liang said, "We aim to develop a diagnostic test that can predict vaccine mediated protection, and to identify antigens that may be used to produce an effective subunit vaccine."