The small business innovative research (SBIR) grant will go towards the development of a vaccine to combat helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), a major cause of gastritis and gastroduodenal ulcer disease in humans.
H. pylori is a bacterium found in the stomach of humans in which it causes more than 90% of duodenal ulcers and up to 80% of gastric ulcers. In developing countries, infection is frequently symptomatic and is thought to be responsible for the high incidence of gastric cancer in those areas.
Under the terms of the SBIR grant, Amarillo Biosciences will fund the R&D of a vaccine and an oral interferon cocktail formulation for use as an adjunct to antimicrobial therapies. If the phase I work goes as expected, the company will request a larger phase II SBIR grant in 2006 to fund human trials.