The grant, which provides $1.5m in funding over two years, was based on the successful completion of a Phase I SBIR award.
Avaxia founder and CEO Barbara Fox said the in vivo animal data, generated under prior funding of the NIH, has shown that the orally active anti-TNF antibody significantly reduced inflammatory bowel disease severity in three different animal models.
"With these impressive results, and with the support of this Phase II SBIR grant, Avaxia plans to enter into clinical trials with AVX-470 in patients with IBD this year," Fox added.