Vical receives $4.0M grant to support development of novel vaccine for CMV infection

Vical Incorporated (Nasdaq:VICL) announced today that the company is collaborating with leading pediatric infectious disease researchers Stuart P. Adler, M.D., and Michael A. McVoy, Ph.D., of Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) under a five-year, approximately $4.0 million grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The grant will support development and animal testing of novel vaccine approaches designed to protect women of child-bearing potential from infection with cytomegalovirus (CMV). Vical will produce the DNA vaccines and Vaxfectin^® adjuvant, and will conduct the animal studies funded by the grant.

"The most promising CMV vaccine candidates have provided encouraging immune responses and partial protection," said Dr. Adler. "The growing body of knowledge about the biology of CMV infection has illuminated new pathways that may offer even broader protection. Our collaboration with Vical, with the support of the NIAID grant funding, will allow us to evaluate comprehensive CMV vaccine strategies through proof-of-concept studies in animal models. We hope that the results of these efforts will lead to a successful prophylactic vaccine solution to avert the serious consequences of congenital CMV infection."

Past development of protein-based prophylactic CMV vaccines has focused on antibody-mediated immune responses against the CMV glycoprotein B (gB) antigen, which has achieved up to 50% protective efficacy. The gB vaccines have proven most effective at preventing CMV infection of human fibroblast cells, which form the connective tissues that provide the body's structure. Recent studies at VCU have identified additional CMV antigens that may prevent CMV infection of human epithelial cells, which form the surface linings of the body's structures and cavities. Evaluating vaccine strategies targeting the new antigens and combining them with gB-based vaccines that neutralize CMV against fibroblast entry are the primary goals of the new grant.