Former Merck & Co., Inc. Unit, Okairos AG Works on First Vaccine for Hepatitis C

Okairos AG, a biotechnology business that Merck & Co. (MRK) sold to venture capital funds in 2007, is seeking to produce the first preventive vaccine for hepatitis C, challenging makers of treatments for the disease. Okairos has begun a mid-stage study, funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, of a gene-based vaccine designed to stimulate the body’s immune system to prevent hepatitis C from taking hold, Chief Operating Officer Tom Woiwode said in a phone interview from the company’s Basel, Switzerland, headquarters.

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