The Defense Threat Reduction Agency has awarded MRIGlobal a five-year, $6.2 million contract to lead a team of scientists from the U.S., Canada and Sweden to create a vaccine for Tularemia, a disease that can be contracted by both humans and animals.
MRIGlobal said Wednesday the contract seeks to push forward the new vaccine candidate through scaled-up manufacturing, large animal studies and vaccine immunity production studies.
Thomas Sack, MRIGlobal president and CEO, said the contract continues the company’s ongoing work to create a Tularemia vaccine that began in 2002.
Tularemia can be spread to humans through tick and deer fly bites, skin contact with infected animals, contaminated water, dust or aerosols and acts of bioterrorism.