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AVANT Immunotherapeutics Receives NIH SBIR Phase 2 Award for Development and Manufacture of Ty800 With VitriLife(R)

Posted on: Wednesday, 27 September 2006, 09:01 CDT

AVANT Immunotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVAN) today announced that it

has been awarded a Phase 2 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)

grant to support further development and manufacture of Ty800, the

company's single dose, oral typhoid vaccine.

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) of the

National Institutes of Health (NIH) awarded this grant titled "Development

and cGMP Manufacture of a Vitrified Typhoid Vaccine",

which provides approximately $750,000 in funding to AVANT.

"We are very pleased to receive this new SBIR

grant and the NIAID's commitment to further

development and cGMP manufacture of Ty800 with bulk drying processes to

achieve temperature stability," said Una S.

Ryan, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of AVANT

Immunotherapeutics, Inc. "This funding allows

us to move the Ty800 program forward using outside sources to help

support the cost of Ty800 vaccine development. The development of a safe

and effective typhoid fever vaccine is important for protecting

residents, travelers and military personnel from typhoid fever in

endemic areas."

AVANT has designed the Ty800 vaccine to offer rapid, oral, single-dose

protection against Salmonella typhi, the cause of typhoid fever.

The Ty800 vaccine was developed using genetic techniques to delete

specific genes known to be essential to the virulence of S. typhi.

The NIAID is currently conducting a Phase 1/2 clinical trial of Ty800

designed to show that the vaccine is well tolerated in humans and

rapidly elicits strong immune responses.

About AVANT Immunotherapeutics, Inc.

AVANT Immunotherapeutics, Inc. discovers and develops innovative

vaccines and therapeutics that harness the human immune system to

prevent and treat disease. Five of AVANT's

products are in clinical development, including a treatment to reduce

complement-mediated tissue damage associated with cardiac bypass surgery

and a novel vaccine for cholesterol management. AVANT is also developing

a pipeline of preventative vaccines for biodefense, travelers',

military, and global health needs based on AVANT'S

rapid-protecting, single-dose, oral and temperature stable vaccine

technology.

Additional information on AVANT Immunotherapeutics, Inc. can be obtained

through our site on the World Wide Web: http://www.avantimmune.com.

Safe Harbor Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation

Reform Act of 1995: This release includes forward-looking statements

that are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and reflect

AVANT's current views with respect to future

events and financial performance. There are a umber of important

factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from

those expressed in any forward-looking statement made by AVANT. These

factors include, but are not limited to: (1) the integration of multiple

technologies and programs; (2) the ability to adapt AVANT's

vectoring systems to develop new, safe and effective orally administered

vaccines against anthrax and plague or other any other microbes used as

bioweapons and other disease causing agents; (3) the ability to

successfully complete development and commercialization of TP10, CETi-1,

CholeraGarde® (Peru-15), Ty800 and other

products; (4) the cost, timing, scope and results of ongoing safety and

efficacy trials of TP10, CETi-1, CholeraGarde®

(Peru-15), Ty800 and other preclinical and clinical testing; (5) the

ability to successfully complete product research and further

development, including animal, pre-clinical and clinical studies of

TP10, CETi-1, CholeraGarde® (Peru-15), Ty800

and other products; (6) the ability of the Company to manage multiple

late stage clinical trials for a variety of product candidates; (7)

changes in existing and potential relationships with corporate

collaborators; (8) the availability, cost, delivery and quality of

clinical and commercial grade materials supplied by contract

manufacturers; (9) the timing, cost and uncertainty of obtaining

regulatory approvals to use TP10, CETi-1, CholeraGarde®

(Peru-15) and Ty800, among other purposes, for adults undergoing cardiac

surgery, to raise serum HDL cholesterol levels and to protect travelers

and people in endemic regions from diarrhea causing diseases,

respectively; (10) the ability to obtain substantial additional funding;

(11) the ability to develop and commercialize products before

competitors and that are superior to the alternatives developed by

competitors; (12) AVANT's expectations

regarding research and development expenses and general and

administrative expenses; (13) AVANT's

expectations regarding cash balances, anticipated royalty payments and

expenses, including infrastructure expenses; and (14) other factors

detailed from time to time in filings with the Securities and Exchange

Commission. You should carefully review all of these factors, and

you should be aware that there may be other factors that could cause

these differences. These forward-looking statements were based on

information, plans and estimates at the date of this report, and we do

not promise to update any forward-looking statements to reflect changes

in underlying assumptions or factors, new information, future events or

other changes.

Source: Business Wire

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