Vical's DNA influenza vaccines show promise

San Diego, USA-based biopharmaceuticals firm Vical says that its influenza DNA vaccine, formulated with the company's lipid-based adjuvant Vaxfectin, protected mice against infection by two strains of human influenza virus. The findings were presented in an address entitled "Advances in Influenza Research: From Birds to Bench to Bedside" at the Viral Immunity Keystone Symposium, held late last month in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, USA.

The company, which is developing the DNA vaccine as part of a project funded by a National Institutes of Health grant (Marketletter September 19, 2005), is focusing on the highly-conserved viral nucleoprotein and matrix protein components in a variety of animal models, and in several formulations. The results so far show that Vaxefectin-formulated vaccines achieve greater protection against lethal challenges with the human influenza strains H1N1 or H3N2. Currently, the researchers are assessing the product's efficacy in providing protection against H5N1, with further data expected in the second half of 2006.

Vical's chief scientific officer, David Kaslow, said: "the human flu challenge data confirmed the concept of cross-protection via low-dose, Vaxfectin-formulated DNA vaccines targeting conserved influenza proteins."