PAI Life Sciences, a Seattle-based biotech company, has developed a new “SchistoShield” vaccine, making it the company’s first clinical trial. The vaccine fights against the tropical disease schistosomiasis, commonly known as “snail fever.”
During phase 1 of the clinical trial, healthy volunteers at Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute in Seattle will be assessed based on the safety and immune response of the vaccine.
The clinical trial is funded by the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and a public-private partnership, the RIGHT (Research Investment for Global Health Technology) fund.