U.S. Navy and U.S. Army to Develop Dengue DNA Vaccine Formulated With Vical's Vaxfectin(R...( SAN DIEGO Nov. 6 /- Vical Incorpo...),Health

SAN DIEGO, Nov. 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Vical Incorporated (Nasdaq: VICL) today announced that the Naval Medical Research Center (NMRC) plans to conduct preclinical and Phase 1 evaluation of a dengue DNA vaccine formulated with the company's Vaxfectin(R) adjuvant and delivered with the Biojector(R) 2000 needle-free injection system (Bioject Medical Technologies Inc.) (OTC Bulletin Board: BJCT). In support of the program, Vical will manufacture the vaccine and the adjuvant under a $1.3 million contract, and will provide regulatory and clinical expertise. Testing will be performed at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) under sponsorship of the U.S. Army Medical Materiel Development Activity (USAMMDA).

"Dengue is the scourge of the tropics today, just as yellow fever was before the widespread use of an effective vaccine," said Vijay B. Samant, President and Chief Executive Officer of Vical. "Dengue presents a serious threat to almost half the world's population living in or traveling to endemic regions. The U.S. government's program, intended to develop a vaccine to protect troops being deployed to dengue-endemic regions, is among the most advanced. The potential for a dengue DNA vaccine has been demonstrated in animal models, and initial safety testing has been completed in humans. Separately, we recently reported encouraging preliminary results from our Phase 1 trial of our H5N1 pandemic influenza DNA vaccines, marking the first time the Vaxfectin(R) adjuvant was tested in humans. We are eager to support the application of our Vaxfectin(R) adjuvant in this important program and hope to advance toward resolution of this significant world health problem."

NMRC scientists developed a DNA vaccine containing genes encoding the pre-membrane (prM) and envelope (E) proteins from the dengue-1 (DEN-1) virus. Following successful challenge testing in nonhuman primates, NMRC conducted a Phase 1 trial of the unadjuvanted monovalent vaccine
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