Integral Molecular won a $5.5 million National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) contract last week that will, over the next five years, fund efforts to define antibody responses to various pathogenic viruses and advance along the path to making vaccines for them.
“Our nearly 20 year experience studying pathogenic viruses including Dengue, Chikungunya, Hepatitis C, Zika, and Ebola has expanded our understanding of how antibodies can provide protection from viruses” Benjamin Doranz, CEO of Integral Molecular and Principal Investigator of the contract, said. “This continued support from NIAID validates our approach, allows us to broaden the scope of our studies, and will yield new insights that provide effective therapeutics and vaccines against these deadly viruses.”
This is the third competitive contract award Integral Molecular has earned for their mapping efforts, as conducted in collaboration with Dr. James Crowe, director of the Vanderbilt Vaccine Center.
Integral’s efforts could affect viruses like Zika, Marburg and equine encephalitis viruses, thanks to a technology known as epitope mapping. That method is today credited in the mapping of more than 1,000 antibody binding sites, which were used to create both mechanistic insights and intellectual property.