IDBEF News-and moving up
Friday January 29, 1:00 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
SOURCE: ID Biomedical Corporation
ID Biomedical Signs
Manufacturing Agreement for
AIDS Vaccine; Company
Targets H2 1999 for Human Testing
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Jan. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- ID Biomedical Corporation -- Trading
Symbols: Nasdaq: IDBEF, Toronto Stock Exchange: IDB., Berlin: IDB
ID Biomedical Corporation announced today that its vaccine subsidiary, ID Vaccine (Seattle, WA),
has entered into a Contract Manufacturing Agreement with Biomira, Inc. (Edmonton, Canada) for
the production of its new therapeutic AIDS vaccine.
Under the terms of the agreement, Biomira will manufacture the peptide-based subunit vaccine. ID
Biomedical will complete all quality, control and regulatory requirements necessary to proceed with
human testing. ID Biomedical will own all vaccine, data, information and any materials produced
under the arrangement.
''We are pleased and excited about beginning this important phase of product development,'' stated
Todd R. Patrick, ID Biomedical's Chief Operating Officer and President of ID Vaccine. ''Biomira
has the appropriate facilities and expertise in manufacturing conjugate formulated vaccines, which
will allow us to move forward with pre clinical testing required by the various international
regulatory bodies.''
In initial Phase I human tests on a small scale, a prototype of the therapeutic AIDS vaccine,
covering 5 different strains of HIV, generated cross-clade neutralizing antibodies and achieved
significant reduction in viral load -- the measure of virus in the bloodstream. An improved subunit
vaccine will include eight different HIV-1 peptides, thereby making it possible to treat an expanded
number of strains and clades in HIV-positive individuals.
The vaccine was developed by Dr. Arye Rubinstein, Professor of Pediatrics, Microbiology &
Immunology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University (AECOM) in New
York. This vaccine aims to prevent or delay the onset of AIDS in people infected with the Human
Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). ID Biomedical acquired exclusive rights to the vaccine from
TheraGuide, Inc. (New York, N.Y.), a company founded by Dr. Rubinstein.
Dr. Rubinstein has received funding from the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) to finish
preclinical testing of the vaccine. With successful manufacturing and quality assurances, ID
Biomedical will supply the commercially formulated AIDS vaccine for preclinical animal testing.
Upon successful completion of these experiments, ID Biomedical will begin clinical testing in
human volunteers. It is expected the clinical trials will begin in the second half of 1999.
''Given our previous results, we are excited about the next phase of clinical testing and look
forward to moving as quickly as possible,'' said Dr. Rubinstein. ''Not only are we seeing the virus
become resistant to the currently available therapies, but also these treatments are so expensive that
they are not an option to most of the world's HIV-positive population.''
In addition to his academic appointment, Dr. Rubinstein is the Director of one of the 17 U.S.
Centers for AIDS Research (CFAR) sponsored by the NIH, as well as the scientific director of
TheraGuide, Inc. Recognition of his work in AIDS research has included the Lifetime Award for
Immunology from the George Washington University, and together with Drs. Anthony Fauci,
Robert Gallo, and Jonas Salk, the Annual Award of the U.S. Secretary of Health for Excellence in
AIDS Research and Treatment.
ID Biomedical Corporation is a North American biotechnology company that is emerging as a leader
in two fields of medicine: subunit vaccines and rapid gene-based disease detection. The Company's
lead vaccine products are vaccines against group A streptococcus, which is the subject of a clinical
partnership with the National Institutes of Health, and a vaccine for the prevention of tuberculosis
which has been licensed to Pasteur Merieux Connaught, a member of the Rhone-Poulenc Group.
The Company's gene detection technology, Cycling Probe Technology (CPT), has been shown to
have advantages over comparable systems currently on the market. ID Biomedical's first two
products in development are tests for methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and
vancomycin resistant enterococcus (VRE), which use CPT to detect the genes responsible for
antibiotic resistance.
The foregoing information includes forward-looking statements concerning, among other things,
management's plans and objectives for future corporate objectives, possible product launch and
possible revenues. All such forward-looking statements are, by necessity, only estimates or
expectations of future results and actual results achieved by the Company may differ materially from
these statements due to a number of factors, including i) the Company's ability to successfully
complete preclinical development and manufacturing and obtain timely regulatory approval, ii)
decisions, and the timing of decisions, made by the health regulatory agencies regarding approval of
the Company's products for human testing, iii) the willingness of other companies to enter into
agreements. The Company assumes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements to
reflect actual results, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting such statements.
The Company in no way encourages or participates in Internet chat lines.
SOURCE: ID Biomedical Corporation
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