Profectus BioSciences, Inc (Profectus), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel vaccine candidates for serious chronic infections, has entered into a research collaboration agreement with the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI) to conduct proof-of-concept studies with its proprietary, recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus (rVSV) vector technology as a preventative malaria vaccine.

Shawn Patrick O'Brien, president and chief executive officer of Profectus BioSciences, commented, "We consider this collaboration with MVI a strong endorsement of our first-in-class rVSV vector platform and Profectus' prime-boost approach towards vaccine development. We believe our vaccine technology can be successfully applied to a wide range of pathogens, including malaria, which has proven to be an extraordinarily difficult target for vaccine development." O'Brien continued, "Malaria is a global problem that causes great human suffering. MVI's mission to accelerate the development of malaria vaccines and to ensure their availability and accessibility in the developing world is an important cause. We look forward to applying MVI's award to malaria vaccine research, and proceeding with what we hope will be a highly effective malaria vaccine candidate."

Profectus has two key vaccine vector platforms, plasmid (p) DNA and rVSV that can be sequentially administered in a prime-boost regimen to elicit a potent and durable immune response to target pathogens.