Vaccine Company to Continue Plague Vaccine Development

Written by Vaccine RX Staff

Monday, 30 June 2008

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CSC (NYSE: CSC) announced today that DynPort Vaccine Company LLC (DVC), a CSC company, has been notified by the Department of Defense (DoD) that all future funding for advanced development of plague vaccine will be allocated to the existing DVC contract with the Joint Project Manager Chemical, Biological and Medical Systems’ Joint Vaccine Acquisition Program (JVAP) Joint Product Management Office.

According to the decision, DVC will continue development of a recombinant plague vaccine candidate, rF1V, up to and including possible licensure by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The vaccine candidate is currently in Phase 2 clinical trials.

“We are pleased with the DoD’s decision to move forward with development of rF1V,” said Dr. Robert V. House, president of DVC. “This will allow us to focus our full energies on developing this crucial vaccine for protecting our nation’s warfighters.”

“We are very pleased that a decision has been made regarding a future plague vaccine for the DoD,” said Richard Nidel, Deputy Joint Product Manager for the Joint Vaccine Acquisition Program.

Work will be performed by DVC at its headquarters in Frederick, Md., and at various subcontractor sites.

The rF1V plague vaccine candidate is designed to provide protection against the plague bacterium Yersinia pestis in aerosolized form. The vaccine was originally identified and developed by scientists working at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID). Their work involved the identification of suitable protein antigens and the development of the processes used to assess the performance of the vaccine. Further development and manufacture of the vaccine candidate has been achieved by DVC under the DoD JVAP contract. DVC has served as prime systems contractor for the JVAP since 1997.

The safety and efficacy of this product in humans has not been established. The product is currently under clinical investigation and has not been licensed by the FDA.

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