Biovest International, Inc. (OTCBB:BVTI) today announced that the U.S.
Federal Government has approved the appropriation of $1.6 million in
biomedical research funds for Fiscal Year 2009 for the Defense
Department's Cancer Immunotherapy and Cell Therapy Initiative, which is
intended to support research into new applications for the AutovaxID™
instrument, Biovest's fully-automated cell-manufacturing device to
cost-effectively and efficiently manufacture difficult-to-produce
therapeutic proteins and personalized vaccines, including vaccines
targeting cancers.
Biovest’s Chairman and CEO, Dr. Steven
Arikian, stated, “Congressman James McGovern
(D-MA, Third District) and his staff have been wonderful to work with.
We have been very impressed with Congressman McGovern’s
personal commitment in the fight against cancer, and his leadership will
ensure that the latest cancer immunotherapy technology gets to military
personnel and their dependents expeditiously.”
“The U.S. military in recent years has
actually been leading the field in cancer immunotherapy research,”
Dr. Arikian added. “Biovest is proud that its
cancer vaccine enabling technology, AutovaxID, will be a major part of
the Defense Department’s efforts in the
national and international fight against cancer.”
According to Dr. Arikian, the federal research funds are planned to be
used to conduct groundbreaking research with life-saving applications
for the U.S. Armed Forces, veterans, and civilians. "Currently, we are
utilizing AutovaxID™ to manufacture our
proprietary personalized anti-cancer vaccine (BiovaxID®)
targeting B-cell blood cancers, such as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. With
this expected critical funding support, we intend to further develop
AutovaxID to be capable of growing patient-specific cells that could be
used to rebuild damaged tissue or organs. The potential applications
following trauma or injury are numerous, such as for the production of
autologous skin for burn repair, growth of bone for fracture repair,
and/or the production of tissue for plastic reconstruction of severe
injuries."
The funds are being provided in the Defense Department’s
Title VI, Defense Health Program’s Research
and Development Account in the Defense Appropriations Conference Report.
