Cel-Sci Corporation has been awarded a Phase I SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) grant from the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institutes of Health (NIH), in the amount of $104,000 for the development of CEL-1000 as a potential therapeutic and prophylactic agent against vaccinia and smallpox infections as a single agent and as an adjuvant for vaccinia vaccines. Vaccinia is the virus used in the smallpox vaccine.

This work will be done in collaboration with the laboratory of Dr. James Talmadge, Professor, Department of Pathology and Microbiology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE and will involve animal viral challenge studies and an analysis of the immune responses thereto.

This new bio-terrorism related grant follows a April 2003 $1.1 million grant that was awarded to develop CEL-1000 as a treatment for viral encephalitis, which includes West Nile Virus and three other viruses that the U.S. government has put into its listing as possible bio-terrorism agents. Also, in June 2003 CEL-SCI signed a Cooperative Agreement with the NIAID and the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Disease (USAMRIID) to test CEL-1000 against various bio-terrorism agents as well as other hard to treat diseases. In May 2003 CEL-SCI also received a grant to develop CEL-1000 against herpes simplex.

CEL-1000 is a peptide that activates innate (very early stage) and Th1 type (cellular) immune responses to induce broad-spectrum protection against infection in animal models. The innate immune system is generally accepted to be the first line of defense against infectious agents. CEL-1000 has been shown to protect against herpes simplex, malaria and cancer in animals.