Avanir gets $2 million NIH grant for anthrax antibody

By Elaine Rigoli

Tampa, Fla., June 30 - Avanir Pharmaceuticals Inc. has been awarded a $2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease under its cooperative research partnerships for biodefense program.

The grant provides funds to establish a current good manufacturing practices manufacturing process and to test efficacy of the fully human monoclonal antibody treatment against inhalation anthrax in non-human primates.

If successful, these preclinical studies can be used to support the filing of an Investigational New Drug application for Avanir's potential anti-anthrax drug candidate, AVP-21D9.

"Given the substantial resources required to scale up this technology relative to Avanir's size, we hope this vote of confidence from the government serves as a catalyst to attract additional funding or interest from potential partners interested in large molecule discovery and/or biodefense therapeutics," president and chief executive officer Eric K. Brandt said in a news release.

San Diego-based Avanir is focused on developing therapeutic products for the treatment of chronic diseases.

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