NIAID gives Vical $2.6M for DNA bird flu vacc

USA-based drugmaker Vical says that the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, after reviewing recently reported preclinical data from its avian influenza DNA vaccine program, has given it accelerated access to $2.6 million in funding for further development of the vaccine under a grant awarded in September 2005.

The NIAID is part of the National Institutes of Health, an agency of the US Department of Health and Human Services and the funds will be used to complete preclinical development of the vaccine and to file an Investigational New Drug Application with the Food and Drug Administration, which would allow initiation of a Phase I safety trial in human volunteers, for which the company is seeking additional funding.