NIAID grant will span five years and follows a previous $16.5 million funding, which began in 2003.
Baylor Institute for Immunology Research (BIIR) will receive about $14 million in grants from the NIAID over the next five years to develop new influenza vaccines and diagnostics for early detection of other diseases.
The center, which is a part of Baylor Research Institute (BRI) and Baylor Healthcare System, had received a previous grant worth $16.5 million beginning in 2003 that allowed it to gauge how specific immune system cells responded to flu strains and to develop compounds to increase immunity, the company reports.
“With the new funding from the NIAID, we plan to further characterize our targeting molecules and continue to measure the immune response to the flu,” says Jacques Banchereau, Ph.D., director, Baylor Institute for Immunology Research. “This will prepare us for a clinical trial to test our new vaccine.”
Additionally, BRI scientists have applied for a supplement to the grant that would allow them to specifically make a vaccine against swine flu. The institute says that it would target dendritic cells to develop such a vaccine. The supplemental grant would also fund studies researching how swine flu affects the immune systems of patients.
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Other NIH Grants
NIH Makes $1.5B in Stimulus Bill Grants Available (Mar. 11, 2009)
Profectus BioSciences Awarded $21.6M from NIAID to Develop HIV Vaccines (Dec. 8, 2008)
Aphios Receives NIDA Grant to Develop Nanotech Formulation of Marijuana Addiction Treatment (Oct. 28, 2008)
Chicago Universities Ally to Create Chemical Library with $9.2M NIH Grant (Oct. 21, 2008)
NIH Initiates Five-Year Epigenomics Program with $190M (Sep. 30, 2008)
