Federal Cooperative Agreement Summary

Award Details: Centivax, Inc. received a $1,999,929 Cooperative Agreement from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) under the Plant and Animal Disease, Pest Control, and Animal Care program (CFDA 10.025), awarded February 2, 2026, with completion targeted for February 1, 2028.

Products and Services: Centivax will develop and advance CENTI-POULT-H5, a broadly protective vaccine designed to protect poultry from highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). The company will deliver three primary services over the two-year project period: (1) evaluation of scalable mass-administration methods in chickens, including in ovo injection, aerosol spray vaccination, and drinking water administration; (2) dose-finding studies to determine optimal vaccine dosing via the selected mass-administration method; and (3) protective efficacy assessment through H5N1 challenge studies in chickens. The vaccine incorporates eight divergent H5N1 hemagglutinin antigens and a T-cell targeting construct to induce broad protective immunity against diverse HPAI strains. The project will be conducted in collaboration with Dr. Daniel Perez at the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine. Expected outcomes include a vaccine providing broad protection against diverse HPAI strains, potentially reducing virus transmission and significantly improving current vaccination strategies to protect the U.S. poultry industry from continued economic losses.