BiondVax Awarded $1 Million Universal Flu Vaccine Grant from Israeli Office of the Chief Scientist

Israeli biopharmaceutical company BiondVax Pharmaceuticals Ltd. has been awarded a one-year $1 million grant from the Israeli Office of the Chief Scientist, a division of the Israeli Ministry of Trade and Industry, to advance its clinical development program for the universal influenza vaccine.

This new grant is the third consecutive grant that BiondVax has received from the Israeli Office of the Chief Scientist, following previous grants of $580,000 and $720,000 received in April 2009 and January 2008, respectively.

The research at BiondVax focuses on a universal influenza vaccine that incorporates a proprietary combination of multiple conserved epitopes from influenza virus proteins to activate both humoral and cellular immunity, to provide protection against both seasonal and pandemic flu strains. BiondVax recently concluded the second of two Phase 1–2 clinical trials and the company’s universal flu vaccine was shown to be safe and well tolerated, and to effectively activate both arms (humoral and cellular) of the human immune system, stimulating immune responses against both Influenza Type A and Influenza Type B strains, in both of these Phase 1–2 trials.

Previous coverage Phase 1-2 Completed for Universal Influenza VaccinePandemic Response: Progress and Challenges