Diversa Awarded Two Biodefense Contracts Totaling $4.8 Million
Wednesday March 9, 6:30 am ET
- Provides Follow-On Funding to Support Second Year of Current Antibody and Enzyme Biodefense Programs; Significant Progress Made Under Both Programs in 2004
SAN DIEGO, March 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Diversa Corporation (Nasdaq: DVSA - News) today announced that it has been awarded two biodefense contracts totaling $4.8 million from the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). The first contract, in the amount of $2.5 million, will support the second year of Diversa's program for "Rapid Antibody-Based Biological Countermeasures" (RAbBC). The second contract, in the amount of $2.3 million, will provide funding for the second year of Diversa's program for "Enzyme-Based Active Decontamination" of chemical and biological agents (EBAD). Funding for the EBAD program is provided via the Chemical and Biological Defense Initiative Fund (CBDIF). The Joint Science and Technology Office (JSTO) for Chemical and Biological Defense (CBD) manages all chemical and biological science and technology development programs associated with the U.S. DoD Chemical and Biological Defense Program.
Diversa's RAbBC Program
Under the RAbBC program, which began in March 2004 with an initial $1.4 million of funding from DoD, Diversa has been applying its proprietary high-throughput proteomics and antibody optimization technologies with two main goals:
* first, to identify important protein targets for new vaccines and
antibody therapies; and
* second, to create optimized antibodies to detect and eliminate anthrax
infections.
During the first year of the RAbBC program, in collaboration with the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), Diversa successfully identified multiple candidate proteins that may be associated with the anthrax infection process. These anthrax targets will be evaluated under the second year of this program, together with new targets identified by Diversa that may be associated with the plague infection process.
During the first year of the RAbBC program, Diversa also successfully used its patented Gene Site Saturation Mutagenesis(TM) (GSSM(TM)) and GeneReassembly(TM) evolution technologies to generate multiple new antibody candidates against the B. anthracis capsule that have both higher specificity and increased binding activity. Under the second year of the RAbBC program, Diversa will generate novel antibodies with potentially enhanced abilities to diagnose and neutralize anthrax infections.
Diversa's EBAD Program
Under the EBAD program, which began in December 2003 with an initial $2.3 million of funding from DoD, Diversa has been working in collaboration with Agentase LLC and Life Science Research Israel Ltd. (LSRI) to develop an environmentally benign, enzyme-based system that is capable of decontaminating a broad spectrum of both chemical and biological agents. Product applications of any successfully developed system potentially include decontaminating sprays, solutions, foams, wound dressings, fabrics, and protective clothing.
During the first year of the EBAD program, Diversa applied its proprietary discovery and evolution technologies to identify and optimize enzyme candidates demonstrating active decontamination against a range of chemical and biological agents. Agentase has been working to apply its polymer and materials expertise to develop multiple formulations of these enzyme candidates. LSRI has used its expertise and analytical techniques to test candidate enzymes as detoxificants of chemical and biological agents. These efforts have resulted in the successful development of a multi-enzyme set that has preliminarily demonstrated broad decontamination activity against the targeted chemical and biological agents. Under the second year of the EBAD program, Diversa, Agentase, and LSRI intend to finalize the formulation and validation of this set of enzymes, with the goal of generating a deployable solution-based product in 2006.
"Together with our collaborators, we have made tremendous progress in the first year of our RAbBC and EBAD programs," stated Dr. Jay M. Short, Diversa's President and Chief Executive Officer. "Our initial successes in protein identification, antibody optimization, and enzyme development have led to this significant follow-on funding of these programs, and we look forward to advancing the development of important new antibody- and enzyme-based diagnostic, therapeutic, and decontamination products. In addition, the research under our EBAD program has led to the identification of a novel class of enzymes that we anticipate could have important applications, including in the field of pulp and paper processing."
About Diversa
Diversa Corporation is a leader in applying proprietary genomic technologies for the rapid discovery and optimization of novel protein-based products. The Company is directing its integrated portfolio of technologies to the discovery, evolution, and production of commercially valuable molecules with agricultural, chemical, industrial, and pharmaceutical applications. Diversa has established alliances and joint ventures with market leaders, such as Bayer Animal Health, DuPont Bio-Based Materials, GlaxoSmithKline, Medarex, Merck, and Xoma. In addition, the Company has formed a broad strategic relationship with Syngenta AG, a world-leading agribusiness company. Diversa has commercialized products both independently and in collaboration with strategic partners and licensees. Additional information is available at Diversa's website: www.diversa.com.
About USAMRIID
USAMRIID, located at Fort Detrick, Maryland, is the lead Department of Defense medical research laboratory for the U.S. Biological Defense Research Program, and plays a key role in national defense and in infectious disease research. The Institute's mission is to conduct basic and applied research on biological threats resulting in medical solutions (such as vaccines, drugs and diagnostics) to protect the warfighter. USAMRIID is a subordinate laboratory of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command.
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements in this press release that are not strictly historical are "forward-looking" and involve a high degree of risk and uncertainty. Such statements are only predictions, and actual events or results may differ materially from those projected in such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to differences include, but are not limited to, risks associated with the Company's and its collaborators' new and uncertain technologies, the ability of the Company and its collaborators to make progress on these programs during the period for which funding has been provided, the government award process and receiving funding from government agencies, the company's dependence on government and private industry subcontractors as our collaborators, the ability to commercialize products resulting from either the RAbBC or EBAD program and the timing for availability of commercial products, the development or availability of competitive products or technologies, risks associated with the Company's dependence on patents and proprietary rights, risks associated with the Company's protection and enforcement of its patents and proprietary rights, and the future ability of the Company to enter into and/or maintain collaboration and joint venture agreements. Certain of these factors and others are more fully described in Diversa's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, but not limited to, Diversa's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2004. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof. Diversa expressly disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements.
Note: Gene Site Saturation Mutagenesis, GSSM, and GeneReassembly are trademarks of Diversa Corporation.
The information contained in this press release does not necessarily reflect the position or the policy of the Government and no official endorsement should be inferred.
Contact:
Martin Sabarsky
Corporate Development & Investor Relations
(858) 526-5166
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Source: Diversa Corporation
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