NEEDHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 14, 2006--AVANT Immunotherapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: AVAN) announced today the start of a placebo-controlled, double-blind Phase I/II study of its typhoid fever vaccine candidate, Ty800. The clinical trial, sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is being conducted at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.