Dutch clearance for Vaccinogen facility

Maryland,USA-based Vaccinogen says that the Dutch health authority has licensed it to manufacture its break-through OncoVAX anti-colon cancer vaccine, immediately clearing the path to more than $100.0 million of potential European sales.

The approval of the company's production facility based in Emmen, the Netherlands, also paves the way to its pivotal US Food and Drug Administration Phase IIIb clinical trial - the final step before the vaccine can be sold in the USA, the firm notes.

"The facility can produce up to 3,500 vaccines annually, equivalent to $130.0 million in revenues," said the firm's chief executive, Michael Hanna, adding "that number only scratches the surface of potential demand for a Stage II colon cancer vaccine. One of every three patients who have their cancer removed see it return - and the results are usually fatal."