ROCKVILLE, Md., Jan. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Sanaria Inc., a Rockville, Maryland privately held company, announced the receipt of two multi-year Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Grants from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of the National Institutes of Health. The grants will enhance the development of its whole parasite Malaria Vaccine.
The Phase II grant is to establish multiple strains of the parasite that can be used to assess the effectiveness of Sanaria's Malaria Vaccine. The Phase I grant is to develop additional methods for preserving Sanaria's Malaria Vaccine. The total first year award for both grants is $1.21 million. Subject to satisfactory progress by Sanaria, continued funding in years 2 and 3 will bring the total to $3.47 million.
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Stephen L. Hoffman, M.D., CEO of Sanaria Inc., notes, "We have now competed successfully for $8.25 million in peer-reviewed NIAID SBIR grants. The SBIR grants and our other grants have provided more than $43 million to Sanaria. These grants are critical to the success of our Malaria Vaccine development efforts which are aimed at reducing the enormous morbidity and mortality caused by malaria throughout the world, but especially in infants and children in sub-Saharan Africa."
Malaria vaccine development is a major humanitarian objective. Malaria causes more than 500 million clinical cases and one million deaths each year. The majority of victims are African children. Tens of thousands of travelers contract malaria annually. During the past 150 years, whenever U.S. military forces have been deployed to areas with significant malaria transmission, they have suffered more casualties from malaria than from hostile fire.
About Sanaria Inc.
Sanaria Inc. was founded in 2003. The company's mission is to develop and commercialize a malaria sporozoite vaccine against Plasmodium falciparum, the parasite responsible for more than 95 percent of malaria-associated severe illness and death world-wide, and the malaria parasite for which there is the most significant drug resistance. Sanaria is located in Rockville, MD and leases facilities at the Association for Entrepreneurial Sciences - Biomedical Research Institute. Sanaria plans to begin the first human trials of its Malaria Vaccine in 2008. For more information, see http://www.sanaria.com. Except for historical information, this news release contains certain forward- looking statements that involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which may cause actual results to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the statements made. These forward-looking statements relate to the use of funds to date to complete manufacturing the vaccine, and ability to raise sufficient funding for clinical studies. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the Company's ability to raise funds on reasonable terms, the regulatory approval process, competitive products, and maintenance of its patent portfolio, among others.
Media contact: Adam Richman Sanaria Inc. 12115 Parklawn Drive, Suite L Rockville, MD 20852 Ph: (301) 770-3222 Fax: (301) 770-5554 Email: arichman@sanaria.com
Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050502/DCM054LOGOAP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.orgPRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.comSanaria Inc.CONTACT: Adam Richman of Sanaria Inc., +1-301-770-3222, or Fax:+1-301-770-5554, or arichman@sanaria.com
Web site: http://www.sanaria.com//
