Working with Government Agencies around the World to Address a Serious Bioterrorism Threat
ATI-1701 is a vaccine that is designed to work against the bacteria Francisella tularensis, which the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) defines as a Category A pathogen (an organism that poses the highest risk to national security and public health). As it is 1000x more infectious than anthrax, the aerosolized form is considered to have a high potential for use in a bioterrorist attack. Successfully weaponized and likely deployed in the 20th Century, several countries may already have operational weapons programs leveraging this pathogen.
In preclinical studies, ATI-1701 demonstrated 100% protection from aerosolized weapons-grade F. tularensis, as compared to a 30% protection from the only vaccine currently used (but not FDA approved) for prevention of disease. Appili will continue developing ATI-1701 under the FDA’s Animal Rule, which can reduce the amount of human clinical testing required for market approval.
(1)
(2)
Appili in-licensed the ATI-1701 program from the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) and the program is currently funded in part by the U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA). This program is eligible for a Medical Countermeasures Priority Review Voucher, which would be given to Appili upon FDA approval of the program.
(1) PHAC PSDS (2011) Anthrax; PHAC PSDS (2011) Tularemia
(2) Oyston P (2004) Nat Rev Microbiol 2: 967-979