Proactiveinvestors recommends
Additional Information
Market: TSXV
Sector: Pharmaceuticals
EPIC: MDG
Medicago
www.medicago.com/en

Medicago is developing VLP vaccines to protect against H5N1 pandemic influenza, using a transient expression system which produces recombinant vaccine antigens in non-transgenic plants.

Full Medicago profile here
Pdf

Medicago reports solid preliminary phase one results for seasonal flu vaccine

8th Jun 2011, 10:02 am by Brad Lemaire
Medicago reports solid preliminary phase one results for seasonal flu vaccine

Vaccine maker Medicago (CVE:MDG) reported Wednesday encouraging results from its phase one human trial for the company's plant-based seasonal influenza vaccine.

"These positive clinical trial results are an important milestone as they continue to demonstrate that our rapid plant-based vaccine technology is both safe and effective," said president and CEO Andy Sheldon.

The U.S. phase one study – designed to investigate the safety and efficacy of the H1N1 vaccine – involved 100 healthy volunteers between the ages of 18 to 49. Test subjects were given either a placebo, Medicago’s H1N1 vaccine at varying dosages of 5ug, 13ug and 28ug, and another H1N1 vaccine.

Preliminary results show that 98% of subjects injected with Medicago's vaccine developed an immune response against the H1N1 virus. A four-fold rise in antibodies was noted in 61% of subjects injected with dosages of 5ug, which exceeded immunogenicity criteria, the Quebec-based company said.

Medicago also noted the vaccine was well tolerated at all dosage levels, but will continue to montior adverse events for six months. The company develops vaccines based on Virus-Like Particle (VLP) and plant-based manufacturing technologies. Its methods have the potential to deliver a vaccine for testing in about a month's time, avoiding the quick spread of a pandemic, as it has been proven to produce emerging strains faster than conventional egg and cell-based technologies.

Based on the preliminary results, Medicago plans to carry-out phase two trials for its seasonal vaccine with the recommended H1N1, H3N2 and B flu strains.

Influenza is a respiratory illness that can cause mild to severe illness, and can even lead to death. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, each year in the U.S. more than 200,000 people are hospitalized and about 36,000 die from flu-related causes. The elderly and young children are more susceptible to the disease.

No investment advice

The Company is a publisher and is not registered with or authorised by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). You understand and agree that no content published on the Site constitutes a recommendation that any particular security, portfolio of securities, transaction, or investment strategy is suitable or advisable for any specific person. You further understand that none of the information providers or their affiliates will advise you personally concerning the nature, potential, advisability, value or suitability of any particular security, portfolio of securities, transaction, investment strategy, or other matter.

You understand that the Site may contain opinions from time to time with regard to securities mentioned in other products, including company related products, and that those opinions may be different from those obtained by using another product related to the Company. You understand and agree that contributors may write about securities in which they or their firms have a position, and that they may trade such securities for their own account. In cases where the position is held at the time of publication and such position is known to the Company, appropriate disclosure is made. However, you understand and agree that at the time of any transaction that you make, one or more contributors may have a position in the securities written about. You understand that price and other data is supplied by sources believed to be reliable, that the calculations herein are made using such data, and that neither such data nor such calculations are guaranteed by these sources, the Company, the information providers or any other person or entity, and may not be complete or accurate.

From time to time, reference may be made in our marketing materials to prior articles and opinions we have published. These references may be selective, may reference only a portion of an article or recommendation, and are likely not to be current. As markets change continuously, previously published information and data may not be current and should not be relied upon.