( NYON Switzerland June 07 2007 /PRNe...)Mymetics' HIV Vaccine Demonstrates First-Ever Production of,Neutralizing IgA Antibodies in Non-Human Primate Model,Health

NYON, Switzerland, June 07, 2007 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Mymetics Corporation announced today analysis of results demonstrating that the Company's HIV vaccine elicited neutralizing IgA mucosal antibodies in a non-human primate model. Mucosal IgA antibodies are considered as a possible first line of defense against infection by HIV. The data were presented by Sylvain Fleury, Ph.D., Mymetics' Chief Scientific Officer, in an oral presentation titled, "Without Mucosal Adjuvant, Virosomes-gp41 Peptides from the MPR can Elicit Protective Mucosal IgA in Vaccinated Macaques," at the recent Keystone Symposium, HIV Vaccines: From Basic Research to Clinical Trials.

According to the findings, more than 90 percent of non-human primates vaccinated with virosomes expressing the HIV-1 gp41 peptide produced mucosal IgA antibodies in the genital and intestinal compartments. These mucosal antibodies were capable of preventing HIV transcytosis, a process by which HIV crosses the membrane epithelium of the mucosa, by 60 to 98 percent. When total IgA was purified for testing in standard neutralizing assays (TZMbl), the IgA antibodies also showed the ability to neutralize a primary HIV clade B virus (QH0692) known to be difficult to neutralize. Mucosal IgA produced against the HIV gp41 protein after vaccination was determined to be as good or better than the best anti-HIV neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (2F5, 4E10 and b12) currently on the market, when comparing the amount of antibodies required for neutralizing 50 percent of the viruses.

Mymetics' Dr. Fleury commented, "These results are extremely encouraging. We believe that, by using virosomes which target the mucosal compartment, we now have a means to elicit neutralizing IgA that can potentially work at low concentrations. Furthermore, virosomes do not require a mucosal adjuvant for triggering mucosal antibodies. This may cut the time to market since mucosal a
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