Annunziato of ECBC's Engineering Directorate, received a Gold Awardin the "Outstanding Supervisor Grades 13 and Above" category. While serving assupervisor of the Advanced Technology Demonstration (ATD) Team, Annunziatoused his unique combination of 21 years of program management experience andtechnical skill sets to assemble and manage a highly-productive teamresponsible for conducting the Chemical Biological Radiological and Nuclear(CBRN) Unmanned Ground Reconnaissance (CUGR) Advanced Concept TechnologyDemonstrations (ACTD). The resulting ACTD put state-of-the-art chemicalbiological detection and protection technology into the hands of thewarfighter at an accelerated pace allowing defensive capabilities to counterthe rapidly evolving conditions on the battlefield Dr Vipin K. Rastogi, a senior research biologist in the Biodefense Branch ofthe Research and Technology Directorate's (R&T) Biosciences group, is a SilverAward recipient in the "Outstanding Professional (Technical, Scientific &Program Support") category. The two patents Rastogi authored in the past year- "One Step Purification Process for Purification Organophosphorus HydrolaseEnzyme (#6,448,016)" and "Non-corrosive, Non-caustic, Non-flammable,Catalyst-based Decontaminant Formulation (#7,229,819)" - were licensed toGenencor International for large-scale production of enzymes targeted todecontaminate chemical warfare nerve agents. Commercialization of thistechnology has provided the government with an influx of research money in theform of license fees, but more importantly, the commercial production of theseenzymes will enable the availability of the private sector, first respondersand national laboratories engaged in providing "green solutions" againstchemical biological warfare incidents. Lalena Wallace received a Silver Award in the "Outstanding Para-Professional(Technical, Scientific & Program Support)" category for her work as a researchbiologist within R&T's Biodefense Branch, Biosciences group.
Wallace isattributed with an invaluable technical contribution to the development of anovel cell-based assay for detecting active holo-ricin. Development of thisnovel bioassay supported a joint program between the U.S. EnvironmentalProtection Agency (EPA), National Homeland Security Research Center and ECBC.In addition to providing superior technical support to the program, Wallacealso made equally remarkable contributions to two other joint programs, onewith the EPA's Office Pesticides Programs and the other funded by the DefenseThreat Reduction Agency.This year's ceremony, which recognized 238 outstanding federal employees,serves as the culmination of agency and installation activities held inconjunction with Public Service Recognition Week each May. With 28 branchesacross the country, FEB members actively promote public service, engage inlocal civic activities, raise money for various charities and participate inlocal disaster response training, among other things. The FEB councils aremade up of senior federal career executives in cities with a large federalpresence.
Founded in 1969, the Baltimore-based charter currently covers ageographic region comprised of more than 73,000 civilian, military and postalworkers.ECBC is the Army's principal research and development center for chemical andbiological defense technology, engineering and field operations. ECBC hasachieved major technological advances for the warfighter and for our nationaldefense, with a long and distinguished history of providing the Armed Forceswith quality systems and outstanding customer service. ECBC is a US ArmyResearch, Development and Engineering Command laboratory located at theEdgewood Area of Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. For more information aboutthe Edgewood Chemical Biological Center, please visit our Web site at http:// or call (410) 436-7118.
SOURCEEdgewood Chemical Biological CenterDon Kennedy for the ECBC, +1-410-436-7118. Vical and U.S. Navy to Expedite Development of H1N1 Pandemic Influenza (SwineFlu) VaccineSAN DIEGO, May 6, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Vical Incorporated (Nasdaq:VICL)announced today that the company has entered into a Cooperative Research andDevelopment Agreement (CRADA(i)) with the U.S. Naval Medical Research Center(NMRC), a biomedical research organization within the U.S. Navy, for theexpedited development of a vaccine against the potentially pandemic H1N1 strainof influenza virus.
The goal of the collaborative development program is torapidly advance a Vaxfectin(r)-formulated H1N1 DNA vaccine into clinical testingas quickly as possible. Vical would be responsible for securing regulatoryapproval of the vaccine for use in the United States and other countries."The rapid spread and potential impact of H1N1 influenza have led to a U.S.government declaration of a health care emergency and a World HealthOrganization (WHO) declaration of a Phase 5 pandemic alert," said Vijay B.Samant, Vical's President and Chief Executive Officer. "We believe ourtechnology is particularly well-suited to emerging infectious diseases like H1N1influenza for which conventional vaccine technologies are too slow in bothdevelopment and manufacturing. The successful completion of Phase 1 human trialsof our Vaxfectin(r)-formulated DNA vaccines against H5N1 pandemic influenza lastyear positions us to pursue rapid development of a vaccine to address the threatof an influenza pandemic We are pleased to collaborate with the U.S. Navy onthis H1N1 vaccine development mission."About VicalVical researches and develops biopharmaceutical products based on its patentedDNA delivery technologies for the prevention and treatment of serious orlife-threatening diseases. Potential applications of the company's DNA deliverytechnology include DNA vaccines for infectious diseases or cancer, in which theexpressed protein is an immunogen; cancer immunotherapeutics, in which theexpressed protein is an immune system stimulant; and cardiovascular therapies,in which the expressed protein is an angiogenic growth factor. The company isdeveloping certain infectious disease vaccines and cancer therapeuticsinternally.