GenVec signs $22 mln vaccine contract, shares up

Nov 5 (Reuters) - Clinical-stage biopharmaceutical firm GenVec Inc (GNVC.O) said it signed a four-year contract worth up to $22 million with a unit of Science Applications International Corp (SAI.N) for the development of influenza and HIV vaccines.

Over the next year, GenVec will receive about $2.6 million, it said in a statement.

The development of the vaccines will be in support of the Vaccine Research Center (VRC) of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), GenVec said.

"In particular, we are looking forward to working on a universal flu vaccine, which has the potential to protect against seasonal and pandemic outbreaks," Chief Executive Paul Fischer said in a statement.

On Wednesday, the company had said its experimental drug TNFerade received an orphan drug designation from U.S. health regulators for the treatment of pancreatic cancer.

Shares of the company were up 3 percent to 93 cents in morning trade on Nasdaq. They touched a high of 95 cents earlier in the day. (Reporting by Esha Dey in Bangalore; Editing by Pradeep Kurup)