BioSante Pharmaceuticals Inc has signed a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the U.S. Navy's Naval Medical Research Center's (NMRC) Malaria Program for the development of a malaria vaccine.

The development agreement leverages the expertise of BioSante and NMRC to develop an enhanced vaccine for malaria. Under the agreement, BioSante will provide the NMRC with BioVant, its proprietary vaccine adjuvant and delivery system, and the NMRC will provide DNA plasmids or proteins encoding antigens for Plasmodium spp., the parasite that causes malaria. It is hoped that the resulting DNA vaccine will improve the effectiveness of the ensuing humoral and cell-mediated immunity against malaria and therefore be more effective as it activates both arms of the immune system.

"This program is an important step toward the development of a better safeguard against a disease that continues to take millions of lives each year and is in addition to other BioSante vaccine programs including HIV and anthrax," said Stephen M. Simes, president and chief executive officer of BioSante. "This recognition of BioVant as a potential vaccine adjuvant and delivery system is testament to the work our scientists have been performing in the last several years and the value that has been created for our stockholders."

BioSante is responsible for developing formulations of BioVant with the malaria vaccine antigens. The NMRC will conduct immunization and challenge studies in small animals, non-human primates or pigs to determine the immunogenicity and protective efficacy of DNA vaccines.

The results of these studies may lead to future agreements on the development of effective vaccines against human malaria. About 2.7 million people die each year from malaria, a mosquito-borne disease that is highly prevalent in Africa and other tropical areas. Malaria is also a growing problem among people in the more developed world, especially among travelers and military personnel.