Israeli biopharmaceutical firm NasVax has attained provisional approval for nearly $1 million in grant money from the Office of the Chief Scientist.

The grant to NasVax – which develops improved vaccines and immunotherapeutic products – will be divided. Some $460,000 will be used for NasVax’s overseas R&D plan and almost $490,000 will be invested in its R&D in Israel.

NasVax is developing improved vaccines and immunotherapies to treat fatty liver disease and other inflammatory diseases.

In 2011, NasVax announced the success of a Phase 2a clinical trial of a new oral immunotherapy for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), an inflammatory disease associated with fatty liver disease and the metabolic syndrome.

NasVax works in four areas: inflammatory and auto-immune diseases; Alzheimer’s disease; pneumococcal vaccines; and enhancing the immunogenicity of vaccines and immunotherapeutics.