Navy partners with Ichor for vaccines

SAN DIEGO, Aug. 7 (UPI) -- The U.S. Navy is set to partner with Ichor Medical Systems to develop a DNA vaccine for anthrax and plague.

Ichor has been awarded a two-year, $2.3 million contract by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency to assist the Naval Medical Research Center's Biological Defense Research Directorate in Rockville, Md.

The effectiveness of DNA drug and vaccine delivery by Ichor's electroporation system has resulted in its use worldwide.

The new contract adds to Ichor's March $900,000 contract from the Department of Defense to assist the U.S. Army in the development of a DNA vaccine for equine encephalitis. Officials say Ichor's collaboration with the Pentagon will explore the potential of the company's DNA drug and vaccine delivery electroporation system in an effort to increase the effectiveness of a number of biodefense-related DNA vaccine candidates.

Stanley Goldman, department head of the vaccine group at BDRD, will collaborate with Ichor administering the company's trademarked TriGrid Delivery System to assess a collection of DNA vaccine candidates for anthrax and plague developed by the Navy.

"Ichor's TriGrid represents a promising platform technology for the rapid deployment of vaccines against anthrax, plague, and other biothreat agents," Dr. Alain Luxembourg, director of infectious disease programs at Ichor, said in a statement. "We are excited by the possibility to assess Ichor's technology for the delivery of advanced DNA vaccine designs conceived by the Navy."