September 25, 2009 (FinancialWire) — GenVec, Inc. (NASDAQ: GNVC) said that the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease has executed its third option period under an existing five-year contract with GenVec valued at up to $52 million for the production of HIV vaccines.

The company said it will receive up to $2.3 million for the fourth year, which will support the generation of HIV vaccine candidates with GenVec’s alternate adenovirus serotype technology.

Gaithersburg, Maryland-based GenVec is a biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapeutic drugs and vaccines. The company’s lead product, TNFerade, is currently in a clinical study in locally advanced pancreatic cancer.

The drug is also being evaluated for its potential use in the treatment of several other cancers including esophageal cancer, rectal cancer, and head and neck cancer.

GenVec also uses its proprietary technology to develop vaccines for infectious diseases including HIV, malaria, foot-and-mouth disease, respiratory syncytial virus, and HSV-2.

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