NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Lentigen has signed a contract with the US Army that extends a 2006 agreement that uses the company’s lentiviral vector technology for biodefense, the company said today.
The Army will use the lentiviral technology, which is used to deliver genes or gene silencing sequences into cells, at its Edgewood Chemical Biological Center.
Lentigen CSO Boro Dropulic said the technology has been successful in helping to produce an antibody targeted to anthrax. The lentiviral technology also has been used to produce “difficult-to-express proteins at levels suitable for further development and potential commercialization,” Dropulic added.
“The unique capabilities of these extraordinary vectors could enhance the production of cellular products used in so many aspects of our development programs,” Army Scientific Advisor for Biotechnology James Valdes said in a statement.
Financial terms of the agreement were not released.