US-based pharmaceutical company Anivive Lifesciences has received a new contract worth up to $33m to support the development of a vaccine against the fungus causing Valley Fever.
The contract was awarded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
The NIH funding aims to leverage the science behind Anivive’s animal health Valley Fever vaccine for dogs, to develop a similar vaccine for humans.
Anivive’s vaccine is currently being reviewed by the USDA Center for Veterinary Biologics.
The funding will address IND-enabling activities, including additional manufacturing, formulation, extensive safety testing, and an IND submission, before then completing a human Phase 1 clinical trial.
Anivive Lifesciences chief strategy officer and principal investigator Edward Robb said: “Anivive is honoured to receive this NIAID contract, which will greatly accelerate our efforts to commercialize a vaccine to protect people against Valley Fever.
“This collaborative effort has delivered a significant step forward in the field of vaccinology and holds the potential to be the first vaccine to prevent a serious systemic fungal infection common to humans and animals.”
According to Anivive, rising temperatures and extreme weather lead to an increase in fungal diseases, and currently, no antifungal vaccines are approved for human or animal use.
In 2022, the World Health Organization (WHO) released its first-ever list of fungal ‘priority pathogens’, in response to the growing global public health problem.
The move enables policy improvements and research in areas such as fungal disease distribution, patterns of antifungal resistance, and who is most at risk of exposure and disease.
Anivive said that it has created a strong research team to speed up the delivery of an advanced solution for an emerging fungal disease.
The company is supported by the Valley Fever Center for Excellence at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, for non-clinical development and Recipharm for manufacturing.
In addition, Quigley BioPharma also supports Anivive for vaccine development and Latham BioPharm for program management, financial compliance, quality assurance and other technical expertise.
