Monday September 13, 1:20 pm Eastern Time (see bold)
Company Press Release
Endorex Presents Progress on Oral Vaccine Delivery at British Antiviral Meeting
LONDON--(BW HealthWire)--Sept. 13, 1999--Endorex Corporation (AMEX:DOR - news) announced today progress of its oral vaccine delivery joint venture with Elan Corporation, plc. at the ``Advances in Anti Viral Drugs and Anti Viral Vaccine Technologies' conference being held in London. The meeting, sponsored by SMI Pharmaceutical Conferences, brings together leading vaccine and drug experts to review the opportunities within the field of anti viral therapeutics, including the development of new vaccines and delivery systems.
During the meeting, Endorex President/CEO Michael S. Rosen and V.P. of Research and Development Robert N. Brey, Ph.D., presented the rationale and a case study for oral and mucosal delivery of vaccines for the human and veterinary fields. The worldwide market for vaccines approaches $6 billion, of which approximately two-thirds is human and one-third veterinary. The great majority of these vaccines are injectable creating a significant opportunity for oral vaccines. On the basis of this opportunity, Endorex formed a joint venture named Innovax with Elan in early 1998, to combine research efforts for oral and mucosal vaccines with research groups in Dublin, Ireland and Chicago, Illinois, and additional R&D work sponsored at several U.S. and European academic/medical institutions. Several Elan senior scientific executives participate in the management of Innovax as well. During 1999, Innovax acquired an exclusive worldwide license to an additional oral vaccine delivery technology and a body of intellectual property with several issued and pending U.S. and foreign patents. This technology was discovered at the Southern Research Institute and the University of Alabama Research Foundation. Innovax intends to work with multinational pharmaceutical companies and biotechnology companies to take their existing and new injectable vaccines and convert them into an oral and/or mucosal format; doing so also allows for the potential combination of multiple vaccine antigens into one oral vaccine, thereby simplifying the dosage regimen for patients.
``At least 50 million Americans get flu shots annually and the current U.S. pediatric immunization schedule for the first two years of life includes up to 22 separate injections,' stated Mr. Rosen, who is also the Chairman and President of Innovax. He continued, ``In actuality, the pain associated with most vaccines that require multiple shots as part of the dosage regimen is a significant barrier to patient compliance. Many patients don't complete the immunization schedule and are not fully protected.'
Robert Brey, Ph.D, commenting on the scientific advances of Innovax, stated, ``In its first 18 months of operation, Innovax has made clear strides in developing improved technologies to allow for orally administered vaccines. The only vaccines that are given orally now include live attenuated viruses and bacteria, which can be associated with adverse side effect profiles. In animal tests, the new non-living subunit vaccines are capable of inducing potent immune responses after a single oral or intranasal dose, with no demonstrable side effects. In the coming months, we anticipate that Innovax will develop a prototype combination oral vaccine, a first step in creating a universal oral pediatric vaccine. Such new vaccines have been made possible by Innovax advances in delivery technology that include safe and effective adjuvants and site specific targeting. `Targeting' vaccines to the correct sites in the gastrointestinal tract or the nasal passage gets the antigen to the right place; otherwise, antigens are lost and are ineffective.' Adjuvants boost the overall immune response to the antigen, creating a higher level of immunization. This element is critical in persons with diminished immune systems, such as the elderly, where many vaccines are much less effective.
Endorex is a drug delivery company. The Company's drug delivery technologies focus on: 1) oral/mucosal delivery of drugs and vaccines, 2) disposable microinfusion pump for delivery of selected drugs for life-threatening diseases, and 3) improved delivery of cancer therapy. The Company's oral delivery technology, the Orasome(TM) system was licensed from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). In 1998, Endorex formed two joint ventures with Elan Corporation, plc. Endorex is also developing improved delivery of cancer therapy with two families of compounds: the monoterpenes and the muramyl dipeptides (biologicals).
The statements made in this press release contain certain forward-looking statements, within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, that involve a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Such statements are only predictions and actual events or results in future periods may differ materially from what is currently anticipated. In particular, no assurance can be given that either Innovax will commence clinical trials, successfully develop products, negotiate corporate partnerships to convert injectable vaccines into oral and/or mucosal formats, obtain regulatory approval or become profitable. In addition to the matters described in this press release, risk factors as described from time to time in Endorex's filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, but not limited to, its most recent reports on Form 10-QSB and Form 10-KSB, may affect the results achieved by Endorex. The Company assumes no obligation to update the information in this release. |
