Progenics awarded $6 million to develop HIV vaccines, therapies

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded Progenics Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Tarrytown, NY) approximately $6 million in funding for the development of novel therapies and vaccines for HIV infection. The awards consist of a $4 million research grant for, two Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants totaling $1.2 million, and a $800,000 research contract.

Progenics will use the two-year research grant to fund its ongoing efforts to develop an HIV vaccine, specifically the production and testing of new vaccine candidates in monkeys and other animals. These new vaccines mimic the active form of the viral envelope glycoproteins gp120 and gp41, which allow the virus to penetrate and infect host cells. The vaccines are based on recent discoveries by Progenics' scientists and collaborators at Weill Medical College of Cornell University (New York), Tulane Regional Primate Research Center (New Orleans), and AlphaVax Inc. (Durham, NC).

One SBIR grant will fund a two-year project to develop cost-effective methods for the manufacture of PRO 542, Progenics' novel antibody-like molecule that neutralizes the HIV virus and prevents it from attaching to and infecting host cells. The project, a collaboration with Genzyme Transgenics Corp. (Framingham, MA), will optimize the production of PRO 542 in the milk of transgenic dairy animals.

The other SBIR grant will fund a two-year project to explore the breadth, potency, and durability of PRO 140 therapy in laboratory and animal models of HIV infection. PRO 140 is a monoclonal antibody against the CCR5 fusion co-receptor used by the virus to enter target cells. The project is a collaborative effort between Progenics, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, and Scripps Research Institute (La Jolla, CA).

The one-year research contract supports a complementary HIV vaccine strategy, providing funding for production and preclinical testing of novel gp120 subunit vaccines that are modified to further improve the production of virus-neutralizing antibodies.

Progenics Pharmaceuticals Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company focusing on the development and commercialization of products for the treatment and prevention of cancer, viral, and other life-threatening diseases.

For more information: Ronald Prentki, President, Progenics Pharmaceuticals Inc., 777 Old Saw Mill River Rd., Tarrytown, NY 10591. Tel: 914-789-2800. Fax: Email: rprentki@progenics.com.

Edited by Jim Pomager
Assistant Editor, Drug Discovery Online