TechnoVax has received a three-year $2.9m SBIR phase II grant from the National Institutes of Health to further the development of its Virus-Like Particle (VLP)-based vaccine program.
Reportedly, TechnoVax’s VLP technology is a novel way to produce vaccines against dangerous viruses because the VLPs contain no infectious material but are highly immunogenic.
The company said that TechnoVax’s VLP vaccine technology uses a cell-based system for production rather than the laborious chicken egg system. This technology can reduce production time, manufacturing steps and costs in a safer and controllable process, while increasing vaccine protection against multiple viruses.
Jose Galarza, CEO of TechnoVax, said: “This award and recognition from the NIH emphasises the importance of the VLP technology and this support will allow us to complete preclinical development and move into clinical testing of our influenza VLP vaccine candidates, including our H1N1 swine flu vaccine.”