SARS Vaccine

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) is an emerging infectious agent that first appeared during a 2003 epidemic that began in Asia and quickly spread worldwide, killing 10% of those infected. Human toll aside, the economic impact of the 2003 SARS epidemic was estimated at approximately $10 billion.

Currently, there is no cure or protective vaccine for SARS. The identification and development of novel vaccines and medicines to treat SARS is a priority for governments and public health agencies around the world.

In September of 2004, we received a multi-million dollar grant to support the development of a vaccine against SARS. The SARS alphavaccines we are developing express multiple genes from the virus and target both antibody and T cell responses. The target product has already been shown to induce high titers of neutralizing antibodies as well as T cell responses in laboratory mice.