GenVec, Inc. (NASDAQ: GNVC) announced Thursday that it received a third year option of funding, as part of a five-year contract with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease. The company will receive up to $3.8 million to continue the development of new HIV vaccine candidates. GenVec’s research is based on its proprietary adenovirus vector and production cell line technologies.

“We appreciate NIAID’s decision to execute its renewal option under our contract,” said Dr. Rick King, GenVec’s senior vice president of research and development. “GenVec’s adenovector technology platform now includes six distinct serotypes that can be used singly or in combination.”

GenVec and the NIAID Vaccine Research Center have partnered on HIV vaccine development under a Collaborative Research and Development Agreement for several years. Under a separate contract, GenVec has produced adenovector-based HIV vaccines that have been tested in about 1,400 subjects in 16 NIAID-sponsored Phase I and Phase II clinical trials.

GenVec works on other products as well. The biopharmaceutical company’s lead product candidate, TNFerade, is now in a pivotal clinical study (PACT) for locally advanced pancreatic cancer and is being evaluated in additional clinical trials in other tumor types. GenVec also uses its proprietary adenovector technology to develop vaccines for infectious diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease, malaria, influenza and more.

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