ID Biomedical announces the beginning of a U.S. phase I clinical trial for plague vaccine candidate
11 1월 2005 - 1:16AM
PR Newswire (US)
ID Biomedical announces the beginning of a U.S. phase I clinical
trial for plague vaccine candidate VANCOUVER, BC, Jan. 10
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- ID Biomedical Corporation (TSX: IDB;
NASDAQ: IDBE) announced today the beginning of a phase I clinical
trial for a recombinant injectable plague vaccine candidate. The
project is headed by DVC LLC, with ID Biomedical serving as the
manufacturing development partner. ID Biomedical began its
collaboration with DVC in 2003 for the development of a subunit
plague vaccine; the three contracts awarded to IDB include analytic
and process development, and manufacturing activities related to
producing the vaccine under current Good Manufacturing Practices
(GMP). DVC is the prime systems contractor for the Department of
Defense Joint Vaccine Acquisition Program (JVAP). The open-label
study will evaluate the safety, tolerability and immunogenicity of
the vaccine candidate in healthy volunteers between the ages of 18
and 40. Testing is underway and will continue into 2005 at the
University of Kentucky Chandler Medical Center in Lexington,
Kentucky. The plague vaccine candidate is designed to provide
protection against the plague bacterium Yersinia pestis, and was
originally identified and developed by scientists working at the
U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases
(USAMRIID). Their work involved the identification of suitable
protein antigens and the initial research of the processes used to
assess the performance of the vaccine. Further development of the
processes to produce and test the vaccine, as well as GMP
manufacturing of the candidate antigen, was performed by ID
Biomedical. "We are delighted to participate in a project that has
the potential to serve significant needs in the U.S. biodefense
program. Our experience in subunit vaccine development, coupled
with our proprietary manufacturing technology, has been critical to
the initiation of this clinical trial. This project adds to our
biodefense assets and is another positive step in the building of
this business unit," said George Lowell, MD COL, USA (ret.), Chief
Scientific Officer, Biodefense of ID Biomedical. About Plague The
Plague is an infectious disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia
Pestis. There have been over 150 recorded plague epidemics or
pandemics. It is recognized as a major potential bioterrorism
threat if it is spread in the air (aerosolized) because when the
bacterium is inhaled into the lungs it causes an aggressive
pneumonia that is nearly always fatal. Human to human infection
occurs when a person with plague pneumonia coughs and spreads the
bacteria into the air, which is then inhaled by others. Diagnosis
of plague pneumonia is difficult because early symptoms are similar
to the flu. There is currently no licensed plague vaccine in the
United States. The development of plague vaccines is addressed in
the NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases'
Strategic Plan for Biodefense Research. Plague vaccine development
is one of six priority research areas intended to accelerate the
creation of new products to combat bioterrorism. About DVC DVC LLC,
a CSC company, is a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the
development and licensure of safe and efficacious biodefense
vaccines for the Department of Defense and civilian populations. As
the prime systems contractor for the Joint Vaccine Acquisition
Program, DVC engages the expertise of subcontractors, research
centers and biologics development industry leaders. About ID
Biomedical ID Biomedical is an integrated biotechnology company
dedicated to the development of innovative vaccine products. It
operates in research, development, manufacturing, sales and
marketing from its facilities in Canada and in the United States.
ID Biomedical is dedicated to becoming a premier vaccine company
with significant marketed products worldwide and an extensive
pipeline in both clinical and preclinical development. ID
Biomedical has a leading position in the Canadian influenza market.
It received a ten-year mandate from the Government of Canada in
2001 to assure a state of readiness in the case of an influenza
pandemic and provide influenza vaccine for all Canadians in such an
event. It also currently supplies approximately 75% of the Canadian
government's influenza vaccine purchases. For further information
on ID Biomedical, please visit the Company's website at
http://www.idbiomedical.com/. The information in this news release
contains so-called "forward-looking" statements. These include
statements regarding ID Biomedical's expectations and plans
relating to the closing of the loan transaction and the repurchase
of the subscription receipts described herein, statements about ID
Biomedical's expectations, beliefs, intentions or strategies for
the future, which may be indicated by words or phrases such as
"anticipate", "expect", "intend", "plan", "will", "we believe", "ID
Biomedical believes", "management believes", and similar language.
All forward-looking statements are based on ID Biomedical's current
expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties and to
assumptions made. Important factors that could cause actual results
to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such
forward-looking statements include: (i) the company's ability to
successfully integrate the Shire vaccine business; (ii) the
company's ability to successfully complete preclinical and clinical
development of its products; (iii) the company's ability to
manufacture its products; (iv) the seasonality of the flu-vaccine
business and related fluctuations in the company's revenues from
quarter to quarter; (v) decisions, and the timing of decisions,
made by the health regulatory agencies regarding approval of its
products for human testing; (vi) the company's ability to enter
into distribution agreements for its products, and to complete and
maintain corporate alliances relating to the development and
commercialization of its technology and products; (vii) market
acceptance of its technologies and products; and (viii) the
competitive environment and impact of technological change and
other risks detailed in the company's filings with the Securities
and Exchange Commission. ID Biomedical bases its forward-looking
statements on information currently available to it, and assumes no
obligation to update them. For further information, please contact:
Investor Relations/Media - Dean Linden, (604) 431-9314, ; Michele
Roy, (450) 978-6313, DATASOURCE: ID Biomedical Corporation CONTACT:
Investor Relations/Media - Dean Linden, (604) 431-9314, ; Michele
Roy, (450) 978-6313, ; To request a free copy of this
organization's annual report, please go to http://www.newswire.ca/
and click on reports@cnw.
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