US congressional appropriation for Valortim development

US firms Medarex and PharmAthene, a privately-held biotechnology company, say that the fiscal year 2007 Department of Defense appropriations law includes $1.0 million payable to PharmAthene to support ongoing development of Valortim (MDX-1303), an investigational fully-human monoclonal antibody being developed for the prevention and treatment of anthrax infection.

Valortim was generated by Medarex' UltiMAb Human Antibody Development System. This is the second consecutive year in which PharmAthene, a biodefense company specializing in the development and commercialization of medical countermeasures against chemical and biological terrorism, has received funding for further study of Valortim.

David Wright, chief executive of PharmAthene, commented: "given the anthrax attacks of 2001, in which five people died and others were sickened, there is clearly an urgent unmet medical need for newer, more effective therapies for anthrax."