TechnoVax receives NIH grant to further the development of its VLP-based, vaccine program

Oct 20 2009

TechnoVax, Inc., a biotechnology developer of novel vaccines was awarded a three-year $2.9 million SBIR phase II grant from the National Institutes of Health to further the development of its VLP-based, vaccine program.

“This award and recognition from the NIH emphasizes 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,” stated Dr. Jose Galarza, CEO of TechnoVax.

TechnoVax's Virus-Like Particle (VLP) technology is a novel way to produce vaccines against dangerous viruses because the VLPs contain no infectious material but are highly immunogenic. 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.

Advantages of VLP’S

The VLP vaccine technology allows for the creation of structures that are immunologically and morphologically identical to a virus, but lack the genetic material required for both replication and infection. VLP-based vaccines, do not require chemical inactivation or attenuation as do some of the currently available vaccines. The technology can also be implemented for the production of vaccines directed against other infectious agents and cancer targets. This is one of the most advanced technologies in the vaccine field.

Source: TechnoVax, Inc