UB CIGBS partners with Àvida Biotech to advance vaccines for neglected infectious diseases

UB’s Center for Integrated Global Biomedical Sciences (CIGBS) will partner with Àvida Biotech, a Spain-based developer of antiviral products, to advance affordable, new antivirals and vaccines for neglected infectious diseases such as the dengue, Zika and Chikungunya viruses.

The collaboration will be led by Gene D. Morse, SUNY Distinguished Professor and CIGBS director, and Àvida Biotech CEO and founder Jesús Purroy.

The partnership will work toward ensuring that life-saving medicines are affordable worldwide. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, neglected infectious diseases affect more than 1 billion people globally, largely in low-middle income countries.

CIGBS scientists will support Àvida Biotech’s investigation of a novel oral vaccine for dengue that does not require cold transport or storage. Dengue is a mosquito-borne tropical disease that infects nearly 400 million people each year, according to the World Health Organization.

CIGBS will provide pre-clinical drug development expertise, as well as develop strategies to facilitate interactions with investors and other funding sources. Morse will also join the Àvida Biotech scientific advisory board as a voluntary member. Purroy will join CIGBS as a visiting professor.

“This is a great opportunity for the Center for Integrated Global Biomedical Sciences to collaborate with an innovative biotechnology company and address a biomedical science challenge that will have a high impact in low-middle income countries,” Morse says.

Adds Purroy: “This collaboration will allow us to work with world-class experts and will accelerate our work significantly.”

CIGBS is an international hub that addresses global health challenges through pharmacological research, education and training, and drug and vaccine development.