Vical Incorporated and the Ohio State University announced that the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) will fund a one-year Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) grant to collaborate on a preclinical research project to develop DNA vaccines against anthrax.

Vical will recognize the revenue from the grant as the work is performed. The grant does not change the company's forecast for a net loss of between $28 million and $32 million for 2002.

Vical's patented naked DNA technology allows scientists to construct rings of genetic material, known as plasmids, that express one or more proteins once inside the body. The anthrax vaccine would use this proprietary technology to establish immune system defenses against the bacterial proteins produced by anthrax that combine to cause toxic effects. This approach may have significant safety and manufacturing advantages over traditional vaccines that use live, weakened, or dead pathogens to produce an immune response.

Initial research on this type of anthrax vaccine was conducted in mice by Dr. Darrell Galloway at Ohio State University and the U.S. Naval Medical Research Center. His research produced the initial finding indicating that a DNA vaccine could be developed that would protect against aerosolized or weaponized anthrax spores.