PDS Biotechnology Corp. (NASDAQ:PDSB) Collaborator Receives an Award from NIAID to Fast-Track the Advancement of a Versamune Based Universal Influenza Vaccine

Over the years, PDS Biotechnology Corp. (NASDAQ:PDSB) has engineered multiple therapies and continues to advance its pipeline of cancer immunotherapies and communicable disease vaccines. Its Versamune T-cell activating technology has accelerated the success of the company’s development of novel therapies. The platform distributes disease-specific antigens. It also activates the serious type 1 interferon immunological pathway, and this not only neutralizes antibodies but also produces potent disease-specific killer T-cells.

The Corporation has been collaborating with Professor J. Woodward of the University Of Kentucky School Of Medicine. Today, the collaborator received an award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases’ (NIAID), which will facilitate the advanced development of Versamune and as a universal influenza vaccine.

The Key Objective Is To Develop Largely Protective and Durable Vaccines

The NIAID grant will run under the Collaborative Influenza Vaccine Innovation Centers (CIVICs) program. The primary aim is to develop effective and long-lasting vaccines against multiple strains of influenza. Three sites will host the preclinical development trials. Meanwhile, PDS Biotech will continue accelerating its PDS0202 vaccine program in combination with Versamune and several other influenza vaccine antigens.

Acknowledging the move by NIAID, the CEO of PDS Biotech, Dr. Frank Bedu-Addo, says it will help them deal with the rising health crisis related to influenza. “NIAID support for the upcoming PDS0202 preclinical studies could speed development of a more durable and broadly protective influenza vaccine, thus reducing the public health consequences of both seasonal and pandemic influenza,” he reported.

PDS Biotech’s infectious disease portfolio

PDS0201 (tuberculosis), PDS0202 (universal flu), and PDS0203 (COVID-19) are among the leading vaccines in PDS Biotech’s portfolio of infectious diseases. They are all designed to offer long-term protective immune responses.

PDS0201 is a preventive vaccine for tuberculosis, a menace known to be the primary cause of death from a single infectious agent. TB is an airborne disease spread through the bacillus M. tuberculosis bacteria. The vaccine is under preclinical development. PDS0202, on the other hand, is a preventive vaccine of a wide range of influenza strains and is also under preclinical development. It has a mixture of influenza antigens.