GenVec Awarded Grant for Antigen Discovery Project
GAITHERSBURG, Md., March 26, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- GenVec, Inc. announced today that it has received a grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under Award Number R43AI100467 to support the company's malaria vaccine program.
"We appreciate the support this grant offers GenVec. Our technology to discover new antigens is showing promise and this grant will further our efforts in this area to identify novel antigens for malaria vaccine development," said Dr. Joseph Bruder, Director of Research and head of GenVec's malaria program.
This grant, valued at approximately $600,000 over two years, will be used to identify novel highly protective antigens for malaria vaccine development. The work under this grant will build on the research that was started under a Small Business Innovation and Research (SBIR) grant from the NIAID in 2009. GenVec will be collaborating with the U.S. Naval Medical Research Center (NMRC) to apply its adenovector technology to the development of malaria vaccine candidates.
About GenVec
GenVec is a biopharmaceutical company using differentiated, proprietary technologies to create superior therapeutics and vaccines. A key component of our strategy is to develop and commercialize our product candidates through collaborations. GenVec is working with leading companies and organizations such as Novartis, Merial, and the U.S. Government to support a portfolio of product programs that address the prevention and treatment of a number of significant human and animal health concerns. GenVec's development programs address therapeutic areas such as hearing loss and balance disorders; as well as vaccines against infectious diseases including respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), herpes simplex virus (HSV), dengue fever, malaria, and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). In the area of animal health we are developing vaccines against foot-and-mouth disease (FMD). Additional information about GenVec is available at www.genvec.com and in the Company's various filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Statements herein relating to future financial or business performance, conditions or strategies and other financial and business matters, including expectations regarding funding, grants, collaborations, revenues, cash burn rates, the development of products and the success of the Company's collaborations, including with Novartis and Merial, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. GenVec cautions that these forward-looking statements are subject to numerous assumptions, risks and uncertainties, which change over time. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements or historical experience include risks and uncertainties, including the failure by GenVec to secure and maintain relationships with collaborators; risks relating to the early stage of GenVec's product candidates under development; uncertainties relating to research and development activities; risks relating to the commercialization, if any, of GenVec's proposed product candidates; dependence on the efforts of collaborators and third parties; dependence on intellectual property; currently unanticipated expenses, and risks that we may lack the financial resources and access to capital to fund our operations. Further information on the factors and risks that could affect GenVec's business, financial conditions and results of operations, are contained in GenVec's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which are available at www.sec.gov . These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release, and GenVec assumes no duty to update forward-looking statements.