Brisbane, Australia, 3rd February 2014 -- Admedus (ASX: AHZ) today announced that interim study results on its Phase 1 trial of a therapeutic vaccine for Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV-2) have shown that it achieved the primary endpoint of the study by being safe in the study subjects. In addition, the study has also shown that the vaccine was able to generate a T-cell response.
The dosing of study subjects was completed in December 2013 and further analysis of the data in still ongoing. Admedus anticipates providing further study data later in the year.
“This is an encouraging result for the core vaccine technology and provides us with the basis for not only progressing the Herpes therapeutic vaccine program, but also preparing the Human Papillomavirus vaccine for initial clinical studies as a therapeutic against HPV and Cervical Cancer” said Admedus CEO Mr Lee Rodne.
The core technology is based on Professor Ian Frazer and his team’s work over the last 10 years. The technology looks at stimulating the immune response to enable a patient to fight against diseases.
“The results are very encouraging and we believe we should progress these programs forward” said Professor Ian Frazer. “Once we complete our analysis the team will be looking to take this program into a second clinical study in patients infected with the Herpes virus”.
Currently there is no cure for Herpes and incidence is high. The US CDC estimates that 1 in 6 people in the USA between the age of 14 and 49 have contracted the infection. There is currently no cure for Herpes Simplex 2 infection.
For more information, please contact:
Dr Julian Chick, Chief Operating Officer Admedus Limited Tel: +61 3 9620 5454
Media:
Rebecca Wilson
Buchan Consulting
+61 38866 1216
rwilson@buchanwe.com.au
About Admedus Limited
Admedus (ASX: AHZ) is a diversified healthcare company focused on investing in and developing next generation technologies with world class partners, acquiring strategic assets to grow its product and service offerings and expanding revenues from its existing profitable medical sales and distribution business. The Company has assets from research & development through clinical development as well as sales, marketing and distribution.
Admedus is in the process of commercialising its innovative tissue engineering technology for regenerative medicine. Allied also has a major interest in developing the next generation of vaccines with a Brisbane-based research group led by Professor Ian Frazer. The vaccine programs target disease with significant global potential such as Herpes and Human Papillomavirus.
Further information on the Company can be found on www.admedus.com
About Coridon / Admedus Vaccines
Coridon / Admedus Vaccines was founded in 2000 by the founder inventor Professor Ian Frazer as a private unlisted company, to develop and commercialise patented technology for improving immune responses to DNA vaccines licensed by UniQuest Pty Ltd and developed at the University of Queensland. The company has laboratories within the Translational Research Institute at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane, working in collaboration with the University of Queensland’s Diamantina Institute. The company’s overall objective is to utilise its unique optimisation technology to produce prophylactic and/or therapeutic DNA vaccines for a range of infectious diseases and cancers in humans. Product development is currently focused on Herpes virus vaccines.
About Coridon’s / Admedus Vaccines optimised technology
Coridon has 6 granted US patents protecting its codon optimisation DNA technology, which enhances protein expression in the cell or tissue targeted and results in an improved humoral response. The second component of the technology, also patent protected, is to use a mixture of DNAs encoding ubiquitinated and non ubiquitinated proteins. This strategy enhances the degradation of the protein and optimises T cell responses, while preserving structural epitopes necessary for B cells responses, resulting in vaccines with prophylactic and therapeutic potential.
About Genital Herpes
This disease often results in recurrent painful sores in the genital area. HSV-2 is the major causative agent of genital herpes. As well as pain and discomfort to infected individuals, the virus can have serious health implications for babies born to infected women. Herpes is also believed to aid in the transmission of HIV. Current herpes treatment involves the use of antiviral drugs which can reduce, but not eliminate, outbreaks and shedding and therefore do not prevent spread of the disease. According to research reported in Biomed Central’s journal BMC Infectious Diseases, the economic burden of genital HSV infection and resulting complications has been estimated to be greater than $1 billion annually in the USA alone.
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