Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    Facebook Instagram Threads
    Global BiodefenseGlobal Biodefense
    Subscribe
    • Featured News
    • Funding
    • Directory
    • Jobs
    • Events
    Global BiodefenseGlobal Biodefense
    Contracts + Grants

    BioMARC Helps Advance Biodefense Vaccines for DoD

    By Global Biodefense StaffJanuary 21, 2016
    Biomarc Researchers
    This photo shows BioMARC production supervisor Brandon Marsh and production associate Nicole Kelly. Credit: William Cotton/Colorado State University
    Share
    Facebook LinkedIn Reddit Email

    Colorado State University’s Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing and Academic Resource Center (BioMARC) has been awarded a 10-month, $4.6 million contract to help develop and manufacture new vaccines to fight Western, Eastern and Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis viruses.

    The award to BioMARC is a subcontract awarded by Battelle, a research organization that serves the Department of Defense (DoD) Medical Countermeasure Systems Joint Vaccine Acquisition Program (MCS-JVAP).

    BioMARC, a high-containment biopharmaceutical unit launched by CSU in 2006, has been successfully meeting milestones set last year by the DOD for the Ebola and Marburg vaccines.

    The encephalitic Alphavirus targets of the new contract can cause severe long-term disease and possibly death in humans. There currently are no licensed U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved human vaccines or therapeutics to protect against or treat such viral infections.

    BioMARC will produce the vaccines using a viral replicon particle (VRP) technology that works in a variety of ways to better immunize individuals. The VRP itself is a re-engineered non-infectious virus used to deliver and present the antigen that prompts the body to create the antibodies that fight an invading virus.

    “Our facilities and staff are very well suited to help with product types such as VRP vaccines that are created using advanced biotechnology methodologies,” said Dennis Pierro, BioMARC’s director and an assistant professor of microbiology, immunology and pathology at CSU. “With this infrastructure, BioMARC at CSU plays an important role in the creation of the next generation of vaccines.”

    While the primary purpose of the vaccines would be to protect U.S. soldiers, it is possible that such vaccines could be used for endemic outbreaks as well.

    BioMARC has approximately 30 full-time employees and about 12 CSU students who will be working at the facility. The project will run through May 2016.

    Awards Battelle Equine Encephalitis JPEO-CBRND Vaccine News
    Share. Facebook LinkedIn Reddit Email
    Previous ArticleProfectus BioSciences Initiates Ebola Vaccine Phase 1 Trial
    Next Article Pharma Leaders Issue Joint Declaration on Combating Antimicrobial Resistance

    Related Stories

    New Method Improves Quantification of Ricin in Complex Matrices

    September 20, 2023

    Jurata Thin Film and CastleVax Awarded Grant to Advance Thermostabilized COVID-19 Booster

    September 20, 2023

    Mount Sinai to Lead Development of Pan-Coronavirus Vaccine Under New Federal Grant

    September 17, 2023

    Mass Spec for Rapid Detection of Biological Warfare Agents

    September 15, 2023
    News Scan

    Biodefense Headlines – 19 September 2023

    News Scan September 19, 2023

    News highlights on health security threats and countermeasures curated by Global Biodefense This week’s selections include a global survey of gain-of-function research; funding of an mRNA mpox vaccine; Nipah virus outbreak in India; field detection of threat agents with acoustic…

    Upcoming Events

    Oct 3
    Virtual Event Virtual Event
    October 3 - October 5

    OneLab Summit 2023

    Oct 3
    Virtual Event Virtual Event
    12:00 pm - 2:00 pm EDT

    Public-Private Partnerships to Distribute, Dispense, and Administer Medical Countermeasures

    Oct 4
    Virtual Event Virtual Event
    10:00 am - 2:00 pm EDT

    Tunneling Nanotubes and Intracellular Protrusions Workshop

    Oct 12
    Virtual Event Virtual Event
    12:00 pm - 2:00 pm EDT

    Public-Private Partnerships for Acceptance and Uptake of Medical Countermeasures

    View Calendar

    Subscribe to Global Biodefense

    Get the latest news on pathogens and preparedness

    © 2023 Stemar Media Group LLC
    • About
    • Contact
    • Privacy
    • Subscribe

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.