Vivaldi Biosciences has signed an agreement with the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) for co-research and development of live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV) candidates against the H7N9 strain of influenza A. The company says that it and NIAID will work together to create LAIVs using H7N9 genes inserted into Vivaldi’s master strain and to conduct in vitro and in vivo studies.
Vivaldi develops LAIVs for nasal delivery with technology that “uses proprietary reverse genetics and plasmid rescue technologies to modify the NS1 gene, generating replication-deficient LAIVs attenuated for safety and able to produce a potent, protective immune response.”
Vivaldi President and CEO Douglass B. Given commented, “We are pleased that NIAID has taken an active interest in Vivaldi’s NS1-based LAIV platform and reverse genetics technologies by collaborating with the company on this important program for pandemic preparedness. We look forward to working with Dr. Kanta Subbarao and her team at NIAID’s Laboratory of Infectious Diseases. Promising activity and a favorable safety profile have been demonstrated in a Phase 1 study of our NS1-based LAIV for H5N1 influenza, another strain with pandemic potential. This CRADA with NIAID supports our efforts to further develop the next generation of our LAIV technology with the H7N9 strain.”
Read the Vivaldi press release.
