Intravacc, a global provider of translational research and development of viral and bacterial vaccines, has been awarded a contract with base and options that may total $9.4 million from the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), for the development of a prophylactic vaccine against enterovirus D68 (EV D68). EV D68 is a respiratory virus that can cause childhood paralysis, Acute Flaccid Myelitis (AFM). Intravacc will develop an inactivated EV D68 vaccine, based on Intravacc’s proprietary Vero cell technology, from early product selection through to Phase I clinical testing.
 
During the past decade, EV D68 infections have notably increased in North America, Europe and Asia. In 2014, the United States experienced a large outbreak of severe respiratory disease caused by EV D68, which is increasingly been recognized as a significant respiratory pathogen in children. No effective vaccines or antiviral drugs are currently available, and it is anticipated that the virus may cause larger outbreaks in the future. In this contract, an inactivated EV D68 vaccine will be developed up to first-in-human testing, including virus rescue, assay and process development, preclinical and toxicology studies and production of clinical trial material. The EV D68 vaccine to be developed under the contract will be the first AFM vaccine to go through to clinical development.
 
The project has been funded in whole or in part with U.S. Federal funds from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, under Contract No. 75N93020C00037.
 
“We are gratified to enter into this co-development contract with the NIH/NIAID for an inactivated EV D68 vaccine to protect children from AFM in foreseen EV D68 outbreaks,” said Jan Groen, chief executive officer, Intravacc. “Intravacc has a strong track record and expertise in the development of enteroviral vaccines for e.g. polio and Hand, Foot, Mouth disease on our unique Vero cell platform. For Intravacc this contract means a major recognition to be able to extend our portfolio with such a novel groundbreaking vaccine.”