Jonas Salk documentary, "Apart from the atomic bomb, America's greatest fear was polio." As a result, scientists were in a frantic race to find a way to prevent or cure the disease. In 1947, Salk accepted an appointment to the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. In 1948, he undertook a project funded by the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, the organization that would fund the development of a vaccine, to determine the number of different types of polio virus. Salk saw an opportunity to extend this project towards developing a vaccine against polio, and, together with the skilled research team he
The Immune Response Corporation The Immune Response Corporation The Immune Response Corporation (IRC), founded by Jonas Salk and Kevin Kimberlin and based in Carlsbad, California, pioneered immunotherapeutic products. Francis Crick once said about Salk, “Few have made one discovery that has benefited humanity so greatly. Jonas was a man who, right to his last day, was actively in pursuit of another.” That pursuit was The Immune Response Corporation. Kimberlin “asked Salk to become lead scientific advisor for a new biotech company specializing in ‘anti-idiotypes,’ a novel vaccine technology.” Salk called the proposal “liberating.” The management team included CEO Jim Glavin, former CEO of Genetic