Australian vaccine company Vaxxas has been awarded a $22 million grant from the US government's Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).
The grant will go towards the deployment of Vaxxas’ proprietary HD-MAP technology platform in response to pandemic threats to public health.
Under the terms of the US$22 million award from BARDA, Vaxxas will perform a phase one clinical study using its high-density micro-array patch (HD-MAP) delivering pandemic flu vaccine to more than 400 people using both unadjuvanted and adjuvanted vaccine formulations.
The company said the total cost of this project is estimated to be US$24.1 million (A$33.4 million) of which 8.5 per cent or US$2.1 million (A$2.8 million) will be contributed by Vaxxas.
"Pandemic influenza vaccine was selected for this clinical validation study to comprehensively baseline the immune responses and safety of the novel HD-MAP vaccination platform when used for pandemic preparedness and response," said Vaxxas in a statement.
“We are excited to partner with BARDA to rapidly deploy Vaxxas’ HD-MAP technology, which holds the promise of significantly improving pandemic response with needle-free vaccine delivery that is more effective and readily accepted,” said Vaxxas CEO David L. Hoey.
“Having validated our HD-MAP technology in clinical studies at commercial scale, we stand ready to be among the leading innovators who can solve critical challenges to global pandemic health crises, going beyond and enhancing the capabilities enabled by promising vaccines.”