Dowpharma(SM) Announces Commercial License Agreement For Pfenex Expression Technology(TM) With Iomai Corporation

MIDLAND, Mich. and GAITHERSBURG, Md., June 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Dowpharma(SM) contract manufacturing services, a business unit of The Dow Chemical Company, today announced that it has entered into a commercial license agreement with Iomai Corporation for Dowpharma's Pfenex Expression Technology(TM), a Pseudomonas-based technology that accelerates speed to market for vaccines and biotherapeutics by surpassing the quality and yield capabilities of existing microbial expression systems.

Under the terms of the agreement, Iomai will employ the Pfenex Expression Technology(TM) for the production of heat labile enterotoxin (LT), a key component of Iomai's transcutaneous immunization platform technology for the delivery of vaccines to the skin. Iomai will initially produce LT for use as a vaccine to treat enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC), the most common cause of acute diarrhea among travelers to developing countries. The Pfenex expressed LT will be used in subsequent vaccines that will be delivered using Iomai's transcutaneous immunization technology. The deal consists of milestone payments and commercial royalties on product sales. Additional financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.

Pfenex Expression Technology(TM) is built around specially modified strains of Pseudomonas fluorescens bacteria that increase cellular expression of recombinant proteins and peptides while maintaining critical solubility and activity characteristics.

"This agreement validates the biopharmaceutical industry's need to produce therapeutic proteins using an expression system that delivers higher yields and provides a faster route through process development to reduce the overall cost of goods for vaccines or biotherapeutics," said Nick Hyde, business director, Dowpharma. "In the studies we have conducted, Pfenex consistently outperforms other commercially available microbial expression systems such as E. coli. Pfenex will enable improved production of Iomai's heat-labile enterotoxin, a molecule that historically has been very difficult to express. Bringing Pfenex and Iomai's technologies together will allow Iomai to economically manufacture better vaccines for the prevention and treatment of infectious disease."

"We are in Phase II clinical trials with our ETEC vaccine to treat travelers' diarrhea," said Stanley C. Erck, President & Chief Executive Officer at Iomai. "We believe that Pfenex will enable us to increase the expression of our protein and deliver higher yields to support the advancement of our ETEC vaccine towards regulatory approval. We're looking forward to working with the team at Dowpharma and leveraging their experience and knowledge to enhance our process development activities and to smooth our ultimate transition into manufacturing with this product."

About Dowpharma

Dowpharma(SM) contract manufacturing services serves the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industries with innovative technologies, products, and services in drug discovery, development, delivery and manufacturing. With over three decades of experience, Dowpharma combines the resources and capabilities of several offerings to create a single-market-focused organization with broad service and support capabilities for large and emerging pharmaceutical companies. For more information on Dowpharma, visit www.dowpharma.com.

About Dow

Dow is a leader in science and technology, providing innovative chemical, plastic and agricultural products and services to many essential consumer markets. With annual sales of $40 billion, Dow serves customers in 175 countries and a wide range of markets that are vital to human progress: food, transportation, health and medicine, personal and home care, and building and construction, among others. Committed to the principles of sustainable development, Dow and its 43,000 employees seek to balance economic, environmental and social responsibilities. References to "Dow" or the "Company" mean The Dow Chemical Company and its consolidated subsidiaries unless otherwise expressly noted. For more information on The Dow Chemical Company, visit www.dow.com.

About Iomai Corporation

Founded in 1997, Iomai Corporation is a private biopharmaceutical company that has pioneered the delivery of vaccines and immunostimulants to the skin through a proprietary technology known as transcutaneous immunization, or TCI. Iomai has evaluated skin immunization techniques in several human clinical trials, including those to prevent influenza in the healthy adult and elderly populations, and also to prevent travelers' diarrhea and anthrax infection. The company has an exclusive, worldwide license to TCI and has confirmed the potential of TCI in multiple clinical trials. For more information on Iomai, please visit www.iomai.com.

(SM)Service Mark of The Dow Chemical Company

(TM)Trademark of The Dow Chemical Company

CONTACT: Kathleen Davis of The Dow Chemical Company, Dowpharma,+1-989-636-2760, kadavis@dow.com; or Kathy W. Sweeney of Mentus,+1-858-455-5500, ext. 230, kwitz@mentus.com, for Dowpharma