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Peregrine Enters Contract Negotiations With U.S. DTRA for Hemorrhagic Fevers
U.S. Department of Defense Agency Has Selected Peregrine for a Multi-Year Award That Could Total $44.5 Million Pending Successful Contract Negotiations

25 Jul 2007 - Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that the company's proposal to investigate its antiviral agent bavituximab and other anti-phosphotidylserine (anti-PS) antibodies as potential therapies for hemorrhagic fever virus (HFV) infections has been selected for a contract award by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) of the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), pending negotiation of a final contract. In its notification announcing the selection of Peregrine's proposal, DTRA stated that its goal is to finalize the contract award within the next few months.
 
Peregrine outlined a five-year program in its proposal to the DTRA's 2007 Transformational Medical Technologies Initiative to assess the utility of its clinical stage anti-PS product candidate bavituximab and other anti-PS antibodies as potential therapies for HFV infections. Bavituximab is a monoclonal antibody that in preclinical studies has demonstrated encouraging activity against diverse viruses, including a hemorrhagic fever virus. Peregrine is developing bavituximab for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus infections and has completed two HCV clinical studies showing a positive safety profile and promising signs of antiviral activity. This proposal includes funding for preclinical studies designed to confirm its antiviral activity against HFV infections, manufacturing and product scale-up and initiation of clinical trials.
 
In the proposal submitted to the DTRA, Peregrine has sought funding of approximately $44.5 million over the five years of the proposed project. The DTRA accepted Peregrine's full proposal as the basis for contract negotiations. The final scope of the contract award will be negotiated as part of this process.