Saint Louis University is studying a concept for a universal flu vaccine, under a $1.1 million federal contract funding the project.
The goal is to develop a vaccine that could protect people from influenza pandemics, as well as seasonal flu, university officials said in a release Monday.
SLU was eligible for the award after being chosen as one of nine Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Units(VTEUs) by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 2013, which enabled the university to bid on up to nearly $1 billion in projects to study protecting people from infectious diseases and emerging threats. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the NIH, chose SLU for the flu project.