BLUE BELL, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--VGX Pharmaceuticals (VGX), a developer of DNA vaccines and therapies
against cancer and infectious diseases, announced today an agreement
with the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI) to evaluate in a
preclinical feasibility study VGX’s SynCon™ DNA vaccine development
platform. More specifically, VGX will design and test DNA vaccine
candidates using target antigens from Plasmodium species and
deliver them intradermally using the CELLECTRA® constant
current electroporation device. The collaboration brings together
vaccine development and malaria experts from the University of
Pennsylvania School of Medicine and VGX.
Malaria is a mosquito-borne disease caused by a parasite that results in
one of the most severe human infections. People with malaria often
experience fever, chills, and flu-like illness. Left untreated, they may
develop severe complications and die. Each year about 250 million cases
of malaria occur worldwide and close to one million people die, most of
them young children in sub-Saharan Africa. A vaccine to prevent malaria
infection or disease would complement currently available methods to
treat or prevent malaria.
"As developers of novel vaccines and therapies, VGX and our
collaborators have long been committed to using our technology to tackle
global health problems like HIV/AIDS and cancer,” stated Dr. J. Joseph
Kim, President and CEO of VGX. “We are pleased to enter into this
agreement with the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative to apply our
promising SynCon™ DNA vaccine development platform to malaria. Malaria
remains a challenging and tremendously important area of medical
research, and we value MVI’s support to explore development of a novel
preventive vaccine candidate.”
VGX is developing the CELLECTRA® electroporation device to
deliver a number of DNA vaccine and therapeutic candidates via both
intradermal and intramuscular routes. Several VGX DNA vaccine candidates
including PENNVAX™-B as a preventative and therapeutic vaccine for HIV
infection and VGX-3100 as a therapeutic vaccine for cervical cancer, are
in Phase I clinical testing. VGX’s robust R&D pipeline includes novel
DNA vaccine candidates for other significant infectious disease targets
including influenza, dengue, chikungunya, and hepatitis C viruses.
About VGX Pharmaceuticals
More information about VGX can be found at www.vgxp.com.
On the Internet:
PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative, www.malariavaccine.org
PATH,
www.path.org
Contacts
Company:
VGX Pharmaceuticals
Kevin W. Rassas,
267-440-4208
Fax: 267-440-4242
Senior Vice-President
Rassas@vgxp.com
www.vgxp.com