Inviragen has received a $600,000 grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, to partially support its efforts to develop a safe and effective dengue vaccine.
Reportedly, the two-year grant will fund a collaborative effort led by Inviragen and involving scientists at the University of Wisconsin and Division of Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Human clinical testing of the Inviragen vaccine is expected to begin in the coming months, if the company’s dengue vaccine is proven to be safe and effective in human clinical trials.
Jorge Osorio, chief scientific officer at Inviragen, said: “During the preclinical characterisation of our first dengue vaccine, we learned that the immune response could be further enhanced by making genetic improvements in one of the four vaccine components. This grant will fund the engineering and preclinical testing of a second generation dengue vaccine. If successful, we will incorporate the new constructs into future clinical trials.”