PROVIDENCE, R.I. — EpiVax Inc., a vaccine development and immune engineering company based in Providence, R.I., has announced it is part of collaboration supported by a $5.8 million award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop a new type of vaccine against H7N9 avian influenza.
Scientists using bioinformatics and molecular modeling techniques will engineer the H7N9 hemagglutinin (HA) to resemble seasonal flu, which could help trigger immune memory and help conventional HA-oriented flu vaccine protect against H7N9, the company said.
The five-year program will also include scientists from the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Protein Sciences, and the University of Georgia.
EpiVax’s first-generation H7N9 vaccine is currently in clinical trials in Australia.
