Altimmune Announces $3.7 Million in Additional BARDA Funding
Altimmune, Inc. recently announced the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) is modifying its existing anthrax vaccine development contract with Altimmune by awarding an additional $3.7 million. The increase in funding is primarily directed toward a Phase 1b clinical trial of NasoShield to evaluate alternative methods of intranasal dosing in humans.
In 2018, BARDA awarded Altimmune $2.5 million for further NasoShield development including a comparison of different methods of administration of the vaccine in preclinical models. The data from this study demonstrated that a simple modification to the method of intranasal dose administration had a dramatic impact on the resulting immunogenicity. These results suggest that the 2018 Phase 1 study of NasoShield in healthy adults might have shown a more robust immunogenic effect had a modified administration method been employed. The planned Phase 1b clinical trial will evaluate modified methods of intranasal dosing on NasoShield safety and immunogenicity and is expected to start in 2019.
“We are extremely pleased that BARDA has made this additional funding available for a clinical study to advance this potentially transformative anthrax vaccine,” said Dr. Vipin K. Garg, PhD, President and Chief Executive Officer of Altimmune. “BARDA has been an outstanding partner for NasoShield and we are excited to continue its development with their support.”
In contrast to the currently licensed vaccine that requires three injected doses of vaccine over one month for protection, NasoShield is being developed as a single-dose, intranasal anthrax vaccine. The NasoShield product characteristics may also provide for greatly improved logistics in distribution and administration allowing it to be used more effectively than the currently approved vaccine in the event of an anthrax incident. The NasoShield program is funded through a contract with BARDA (HHSO100201600008C), with a total potential value of $133.7 million if all options in the contact are exercised.
Altimmune is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing treatments for liver disease and immune modulating therapies. The company’s diverse pipeline includes next generation peptide therapeutics for NASH (ALT-801) and chronic Hepatitis B (HepTcell), conjugated immunostimulants for the treatment of cancer (ALT-702) and intranasal vaccines (NasoVAX and NasoShield). For more information, visit www.altimmune.com.
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