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Medicago announced that it has received positive results from an immunogenicity study in mice with the Company's new vaccine candidate for the influenza A (H1N1) virus, also known as swine flu
QUEBEC CITY, CANDA | June 30, 2009 | Medicago Inc. (TSX-V: MDG), a biotechnology company focused on developing highly effective and affordable vaccines based on proprietary manufacturing technologies and Virus-Like Particles (VLPs), today announced that it has received positive results from an immunogenicity study in mice with the Company's new vaccine candidate for the influenza A (H1N1) virus, also known as swine flu. Results demonstrated that the Company's H1 VLP vaccine induced a positive immune response in mice against the H1N1 influenza virus. Medicago produced the H1 VLP antigen within 14 days of receiving the DNA sequence with its VLP vaccine technology and Proficia(TM) manufacturing technology.
"These results, coupled with the speed of production of this new vaccine candidate, demonstrate that once approved, our plant-based VLP vaccine technology could be an effective approach against pandemic influenza," said Andy Sheldon, President and CEO of Medicago. "With our lead H5N1 vaccine candidate expected to commence human trials in the third quarter of this year, we look forward to delivering additional encouraging results and further confirming the potential of our proprietary technologies."
"We are very pleased by these results given the very low sensitivity of this strain which presents a challenge when measuring Hemagglutination-inhibition antibody titers, required to demonstrate immune reaction," said Nathalie Landry, VP Product Development of Medicago. "Further in vitro assays will be performed with our H1 VLP vaccine in the near future to confirm its capacity to neutralize live viruses."
Medicago's swine flu vaccine candidate elicited the production of hemagglutinin (HA)-inhibiting antibody in mice at levels that are generally considered to be protective after two doses of 5 micrograms. The vaccine must undergo clinical trials and receive all required approval by health authorities before it could be made available commercially.
About Medicago
Medicago is committed to provide highly effective and affordable vaccines based on proprietary Virus-Like Particle (VLP) and manufacturing technologies. Medicago is developing VLP vaccines to protect against H5N1 pandemic influenza, using a transient expression system which produces recombinant vaccine antigens in non-transgenic plants. This technology has potential to offer advantages of speed and cost over competitive technologies. It could deliver a vaccine for testing in about a month after the identification and reception of genetic sequences from a pandemic strain. This production time frame has the potential to allow vaccination of the population before the first wave of a pandemic strikes and to supply large volumes of vaccine antigens to the world market. Additional information about Medicago is available at www.medicago.com.
SOURCE: Medicago |
