Following on the heels of the early announcement that the Ebola treatment under development by Mapp Biopharmaceutical - also an SBIR awardee - was used to treat the first two Americans brought back to Emory University Hospital this latest announcement underscores the leading-edge nature of so much of the work being done by SBIR involved firms.
Perfectus has been SBIR active since 2007 and was recently funded again by NIH with a total of 11 Phase I awards from that source - of which 3 to date have continued to Phase II for a total of $8M. The firm has additional federal funding for $8.5M from other sources.
Date: Oct 15, 2014 Author: Bob Brewin Source: nextgov.com (
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The Department of Health and Human Services awarded Tuesday an $8.2 million contract to Baltimore-based Profectus BioSciences Inc. for research and development of an Ebola vaccine proven 100 percent effective in animal tests, according to the company.
The Defense Department's Joint Project Manager Medical Countermeasure Systems located at Ft. Detrick, Maryland, is working with Australia and Canada on development of the Profectus vaccine to defend against bio-weapon attacks and to help public health agencies in all three countries combat Ebola, the unit's commander, Col. Russell Coleman said in a Sept. 24 presentation.
Elleen Kane, an HHS spokeswoman, said the contract is for animal studies but did not provide any further details.
In a paper presented to an international vaccine conference in 2012, Profectus said its vaccine provided 100 percent protection for monkeys and guinea pigs in tests with the Zaire variant of Ebola. The company said its research has been backed by grants from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
The Ebola vaccine contract award comes as the U.S. deals with the case of a second Ebola infection by a nurse at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas. The nurse tested positive for the virus after caring for Thomas Eric Duncan, who was treated at the hospital and died Oct. 8.
The World Health Organization said in late August more than 240 health care workers had developed the disease in Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, and more than 120 had died.
In its 2012 paper, Profectus said its Ebola vaccine would help protect health care workers from the virus.
"An effective prophylactic vaccine would find application with medical personnel and close contacts during outbreaks in endemic areas of sub-Saharan Africa, with laboratory workers engaged in filovirus research, and with military and civilian personnel threatened by weaponized filoviruses," the paper stated.
At a Sept. 5 press conference in Geneva following a meeting of 200 virus experts, Marie-Paule Kieny, assistant director general of WHO, said researchers may have enough data from small human studies of new Ebola vaccines to warrant offering them to health care workers and other front-line staff caring for Ebola patients by November.
