NAJIT TECHNOLOGIES, INC. — Department of Health and Human Services SBIR Phase II: R

Description

Chikungunya virusCHIKVis an alphavirus that has gained significant attention due to its ability to cause large epidemics among susceptible populations and to be spread beyond endemic countries by international travelersAmong a population of approximatelyon the French island of La Reunionpeople were infected and overCHIKV related fatalities occurred during theoutbreakLikewisean estimatedmillion people were infected with CHIKV in India during outbreaks that occurred fromtoand recently there have been more thanmillion people infected with CHIKV in the Caribbean and the AmericasAt presentthere is no commercial vaccine available for CHIKVThe development of an inactivated CHIKV vaccine suitable for immunizing the general population as well as vulnerable groups including infants and the elderly represents an important unmet clinical needWe have developed a versatile vaccine platform based on inactivating viruses with hydrogen peroxideH Oand herewe present preclinical efficacy data demonstrating that our optimized prototype H OCHIKV vaccine can provide complete protection against infection and CHIKV associated pathology in a robust mouse modelBased on this innovative new approach to vaccine development and promising preclinical data with CHIKVwe propose a detailed research plan to perform all necessary IND enabling studies and to manufacture clinical grade H Oinactivated CHIKV vaccine suitable for Phase I trials PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE There is currently no vaccine available to combat chikungunya virusa pathogen that causes debilitating and sometimes lethal infectionOur advanced technology for developing a safe and effective H Oinactivated chikungunya virus vaccine represents a new approach to this unmet clinical need