Bavarian Nordic A/S (CPH:BAVA)(FRA:BV3), a fully integrated biotechnology company, announced on Friday the signing of a new alliance with the US Department of Defence (DoD) for the development of a prophylactic vaccine against the equine encephalitis virus, a rare, but potentially deadly mosquito-borne illness.

With funding from the DoD, Bavarian Nordic will utilise its proprietary MVA-BN platform to develop a vaccine against various strains of the virus, for which there is currently no preventative vaccine treatment available. This agreement includes total potential considerations of approximately USD36m.

An MVA-BN based candidate vaccine targeting three separate equine encephalitis viruses including Eastern (EEEV), Venezuelan (VEEV) and Western (WEEV), has already demonstrated efficacy against all three viruses in preclinical models, the company added.

This multi-year collaboration will include further preclinical studies to support clinical development, GMP production and establishment of safety and immunogenicity in humans. Also, clinical proof of concept data will warrant further development of the MVA-BN based candidate vaccine with potential follow-on funding towards FDA licensure and production. This vaccine would then be available to the DoD as needed to vaccinate individuals who may be deployed in a region considered at high risk for a particular illness.

The award of this multi-year contract does not change the financial guidance for 2018, the company added.

Bavarian Nordic is focused on the development of innovative and safe therapies against cancer and infectious diseases.