Anivive Lifesciences, a One Health technology company, has received a contract from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to support the development of a human vaccine against coccidioides, the fungus responsible for valley fever.

The $33m contract will leverage the science behind Anivive's canine valley fever vaccine, which is under review by the United States Department of Agriculture's Center for Veterinary Biologics.

This approach will help to develop a similar vaccine for use in humans.

The NIAID funding will facilitate investigational new drug (IND)-enabling activities such as manufacturing enhancements, formulation, comprehensive safety assessments and an IND submission.

A Phase I clinical trial in humans will then be conducted.

The initiative comes at a time when climate change is increasing the prevalence of fungal diseases, prompting the World Health Organization to call for intensified research and policy improvements in 2022.

No antifungal vaccines have yet received approval for use in either humans or animals.

Anivive Lifesciences chief strategy officer and principal investigator Dr Edward Robb said: “Anivive is honoured to receive this NIAID contract, which will greatly accelerate our efforts to commercialise a vaccine to protect people against valley fever.

“This collaborative effort has delivered a significant step forward in the field of vaccinology and holds the potential to be the first vaccine to prevent a serious systemic fungal infection common to humans and animals.”

The company's efforts are bolstered by collaborations with the Valley Fever Center for Excellence at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, Recipharm, Quigley BioPharma and the Latham BioPharm Group, part of Sia Partners. The collaborators provide a range of support services from non-clinical development to programme management.

Anivive, headquartered in the US, operates at the nexus of biotechnology, artificial intelligence and software.

Its pipeline features eight first-in-class technologies targeting oncology, virology and infectious diseases.