Integral Molecular receives NIH contract for $5.5 million to advance vaccine discovery

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has awarded Integral Molecular a contract (75N93019C00073) which will provide up to $5.5M over the next five years to define antibody responses to pathogenic viruses including Zika, Marburg and equine encephalitis viruses (EEV), aiding the discovery of vaccines and therapeutics against these currently untreatable and often lethal viruses.

With this third competitive contract award, NIAID, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has recognized Integral Molecular's achievements in using epitope mapping to understand the human immune response to viruses. This research is being conducted in collaboration with Dr. James Crowe, Director of the Vanderbilt Vaccine Center.

Our nearly 20 year experience studying pathogenic viruses including Dengue, Chikungunya, Hepatitis C, Zika, and Ebola has expanded our understanding of how antibodies can provide protection from viruses. This continued support from NIAID validates our approach, allows us to broaden the scope of our studies, and will yield new insights that provide effective therapeutics and vaccines against these deadly viruses."

Benjamin Doranz, CEO of Integral Molecular and Principal Investigator of the contract

Integral Molecular's Shotgun Mutagenesis epitope mapping technology has provided powerful insights that have contributed to over 40 manuscripts in high impact journals including Cell, Nature and Immunity. Shotgun Mutagenesis epitope mapping has been used to map over 1,000 antibody binding sites to generate mechanistic insights and intellectual property, and is used throughout the vaccine industry.