Altimmune, BARDA set for clinical trial of single-dose anthrax vaccine

Altimmune, Inc., and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) are set to advance the first clinical trial later this month of an anthrax vaccine that could be administered in a single dose.

The trial was initiated from a two-year, $14 million contract between BARDA and Altimmune. If the vaccine performs well during clinical studies, the contract would be extended an additional three years and up to a total of $120 million to support additional clinical and non-clinical studies and manufacturing.

The vaccine, NasoShield, is administered via intranasal spray instead of an injection. The vaccine utilizes a genetically-modified Adenovirus 5 its the delivery system. The non-infectious virus is modified to include genetic material from the anthrax bacteria genome needed to produce an immune response against anthrax.

“Fifteen years ago we experienced a U.S. public health crisis with anthrax-laden letters sent through the mail, and anthrax remains a bioterrorist threat today,” Richard Hatchett, acting director of BARDA, said. “The sooner people are protected by vaccine after being exposed to anthrax, the more lives we can save. A single dose vaccine is ideal to provide fast protection and peace of mind in the critical days after an incident.”