NEEDHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AVANT Immunotherapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: AVAN) today announced that the Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), an institute of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has initiated a Phase 1 safety study of AVANT’s investigational single-dose, oral vaccine designed to offer combined protection against both enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) and cholera. ETEC infection is a major cause of travelers’ diarrhea.