Intercell receives milestone payment triggered by initiation of further clinical trial for Flu vaccine with IC31
Further clinical trial for a seasonal flu vaccine containing Intercell´s adjuvant IC31® being initiated Intercell will be entitled to receive EUR 2 m milestone payment upon the vaccination of the first human subject in the clinical trial
Vienna (Austria), June 13, 2008 - Intercell AG (VSE: ICLL) today announced progress in its collaboration with Novartis to develop an improved Influenza vaccine. Novartis now has initiated its in-house development program with clinical trials designed to demonstrate safety and immunogenicity of a seasonal Influenza vaccine adjuvanted with IC31®. This triggers a milestone payment of EUR 2 m to Intercell. As part of the agreement between Novartis and Intercell, signed in July 2007, Novartis has an exclusive license for development of Intercell's IC31® adjuvant in novel influenza vaccines. As announced in February 2008 Intercell completed an initial Phase I clinical trial of the company's adjuvant IC31® in combination with the seasonal, trivalent influenza vaccine Agrippal® from Novartis. The IC31® adjuvanted vaccine showed an excellent safety and tolerability profile, which was comparable to the non-adjuvanted standard vaccine. Furthermore in all study groups vaccination with the test vaccine led to the induction of virus specific T-cells and protective levels of antibody responses against the three included influenza strains.
Gerd Zettlmeissl, CEO of Intercell, commented: "Intercell's IC31® has shown excellent preclinical data and an encouraging profile in first trials in humans and we are confident that an influenza vaccine formulated with IC31® now further developed by Novartis has potential to become a next generation vaccine."
About IC31®
Vaccines, based on antigens alone, are not sufficient to provide full protection. Adjuvants are needed to educate the immune system to recognize and eliminate the pathogens efficiently. IC31® is an adjuvant that induces T-cell and B-cell responses by using a unique synthetic formulation which combines the immunostimulating properties of an anti-microbial peptide, KLK, and an immunostimulatory oligodeoxynucleotide, ODN1a. The two component solution can be simply mixed with antigens; no conjugation is required. Intercell currently uses IC31® in collaborations with a number of global vaccine companies and biotech companies. These collaborations include amongst others the development of a tuberculosis vaccine in Phase I clinical trials, which has been partnered with the Danish Statens Serum Institut and Sanofi Pasteur.
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Intercell AG
Lucia Malfent Head of Communications Tel. +43 1 20620-303