GenVec Inc has signed an expansion to its existing agreement with the Vaccine Research Center at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health (VRC/NIAID/NIH), which is directed to HIV-1 vaccine development, to also allow the VRC/NIAID/NIH and GenVec to begin development of a clinical grade vaccine against Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) using GenVec's adenovector technology.

Under the contract amendment, issued and managed by SAIC of Frederick, Inc., GenVec will receive $420,000 and will be responsible for constructing and producing clinical grade adenovector-based vaccine candidates against SARS. The VRC/NIAID/NIH will test the vaccine candidates in preclinical models to assess safety and efficacy. Clinical trials in humans could commence following successful preclinical testing results.

"The VRC/NIAID/NIH and GenVec are responding rapidly to this emerging public health threat," commented Dr. C. Richter King, GenVec's Vice President, Research. He continued, "Our technology is highly versatile and allows us to rapidly address a variety of global health threats, as highlighted by our existing vaccine programs for HIV, malaria and dengue virus infections. The existence of our HIV vaccine development program and our productive relationship with the VRC/NIAID/NIH, has allowed GenVec to move quickly to address a newly defined infectious target, such as SARS, without having to significantly redirect company resources."

SARS is an emerging health threat that is believed to have originated in China, with cases now being reporting in more than 25 countries including the United States. It is highly contagious, with more than 4,400 reported cases worldwide, and inflicts a risk of death estimated at 6% of those infected. The agent that purportedly causes the disease, from the Coronavirus family, has been identified. The recently completed sequence of the SARS Coronavirus genome will be used by the VRC/NIAID/NIH and GenVec to develop preventative adenoviral vector vaccine candidates.