Denmark's Bavarian Nordic A/S entered into a collaboration with the U.S. Department of Defense to develop a vaccine for equine encephalitis virus, a rare but potentially deadly mosquito-borne illness.
The agreement includes total potential payments of about $36 million.
The biotechnology company will use its Modified Vaccinia Ankara - Bavarian Nordic, or MVA-BN platform, to develop a vaccine against various strains of the virus, for which there is currently no preventative vaccine treatment available.
A candidate vaccine based on the platform has already shown efficacy in preclinical models targeting Eastern, Venezuelan and Western equine encephalitis viruses.
The multiyear collaboration will include further preclinical studies to support clinical development, production, and establishment of safety and immunogenicity in humans.
