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Juvaris BioTherapeutics Inc., a private biotechnology company today announced it has received a phase I SBIR grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease. The grant will fund initial studies for the development of a vaccine against Pseudomonas aeruginosa in collaboration with Dr. Teiji Sawa at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). P. aeruginosa is a significant opportunistic pathogen, particularly in hospitalized patients with ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), severe burns, immunosuppression due to chemotherapy, cystic fibrosis patients with lung-related infections, and patients with indwelling catheters. Pseudomonas causes disease by the release of exotoxins, which damage or destroy the surrounding host tissue, promote dissemination of the organism and paralyze the phagocytic mechanism. Pseudomonas sepsis and Pseudomonas pneumonia have mortality rates of 20-50% and 30-40%, respectively. The vaccine approach consists of using Juvaris' proprietary cationic lipid-DNA complexes combined with a Pseudomonas-specific antigen, discovered by the UCSF collaborators, to generate potent antibody- and cell-mediated immune responses. In commenting on the grant approval, Juvaris' CEO Martin D. Cleary stated "The award of this SBIR grant is independent validation that the Juvaris JuvaVaxTM antigen-specific vaccine platform will be relevant in the important infectious disease arena. This award compliments a recent grant to Dr. Steve Dow at Colorado State University for the development of a vaccine for plague using the same JuvaVaxTM technology. We are excited about this product opportunity and our new collaboration with Dr. Sawa at UCSF, a recognized expert in the biology of P. aeruginosa." About Juvaris Juvaris BioTherapeutics was created in 2002 to develop an immunotherapeutic product platform for the treatment of infectious diseases and cancer using lipid-DNA complexes. Cationic lipids are formulated with non-coding DNA (plasmid) to create JuvImmuneTM, a single lipid-DNA complex, which as an immunostimulation product will have utility in a number of non-antigen immunotherapeutic applications. The DNA in these complexes does not code for protein, but rather, through a combined synergistic effect with lipids, strongly stimulates immune responses. The JuvImmuneTM product has been shown to be at least 50-times more potent at triggering innate immune activation and interferon release than current immune stimulants. Juvaris was recently issued Patent No. 6,693,086 titled "Systemic Immune Activation Method Using Nucleic Acid-Lipid Complexes" providing broad intellectual property coverage for the JuvImmuneTM technology. When combined with disease-specific antigens, the technology creates JuvaVaxTM vaccines capable of activating substantial antibody- and cell-mediated immune responses, particularly induction of cytotoxic T lymphocytes. Immunological responses elicited by the lipid-DNA complexes have been successfully demonstrated in both prophylactic and therapeutic settings in a variety of mammals including rodents, rabbits, cats, dogs and non-human primates. This system provides the opportunity to develop many disease-specific vaccine products, for which there are significant unmet medical needs. The Company encourages investment and partnering inquiries and can be reached at their website @ www.juvaris.com. Company Contact: |