NEWARK, DE--(Marketwired - February 04, 2015) - iBio, Inc. (NYSE MKT: IBIO), a leader in plant-based biotechnology for developing and manufacturing biological products, today announced the issue of a new U.S. patent in the company’s iBioModulator™ thermostable immunomodulator protein portfolio. The new patent, Serial No. 8,945,580 entitled “Yersinia pestis Antigens, Vaccine Compositions and Related Methods,” includes claims covering plague antigens fused to the Company’s iBioModulator™ thermostable immunomodulator protein, as well as vaccine compositions and a method for producing a protective immune response to the antigen. Scientific data previously published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal, Vaccine, demonstrated that a recombinant plague vaccine incorporating the iBioModulator™ thermostable immunomodulator protein, and produced via the iBioLaunch™ gene expression platform in green plants, provided full protection of non-human primates against aerosolized Y. pestis (pneumonic plague), a potential bioterrorism weapon.
This patent adds to iBio’s coverage from previously issued plague vaccine iBioModulator™ thermostable immunomodulator protein patents U.S. Serial No. 8,404,252 and European Serial No. 2178558. The invention was developed by scientists at the Fraunhofer USA Center for Molecular Biotechnology, one of iBio’s research contractors, and is owned by iBio, Inc.
Patents covering the iBioModulator™ thermostable immunomodulator protein platform are directly related to that part of iBio’s larger portfolio of intellectual property relevant to the development and manufacture of vaccines for a range of infectious diseases including plague, anthrax, human papilloma virus, and influenza. The iBioModulator™ thermostable immunomodulator protein technology used in conjunction with recombinant vaccine antigens, has been shown in animal models to both increase the strength of the immune response induced by vaccination and also to extend the duration of the response.
“The achievements with plague vaccine are just one application of iBio’s core technology -- the iBioLaunch™ gene expression platform -- that enables advantageous plant-based development and manufacture of monoclonal antibodies and other therapeutics, as well as vaccines,” said Robert Erwin, iBio’s president.
“In its application to seasonal influenza vaccines, the speed of our proprietary technology would allow determination of the identity of each season’s predominant influenza virus to be made substantially closer in time to the flu season, decreasing the opportunities for viral mutation and thereby increasing the likely efficacy of that year’s vaccine and decreasing flu-caused illnesses and deaths. As we pursue our current primary focus using iBioLaunch™ technology for development, manufacture and clinical trials of products against various fibrotic diseases -- including idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and scleroderma -- we also continue our interest and activities to partner with others for the application of iBioLaunch™ technology to vaccines.”
According to information published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, this season’s influenza vaccine offers relatively poor protection in comparison to prior years. This is in part because about 70 percent of the H3N2 viruses that have been predominant this season have been different from the H3N2 virus used to make the vaccine. With traditional vaccine manufacturing technologies, such as chicken eggs and cultured cells, there is a very long lead time required prior to the beginning of each new flu season for large scale manufacturing. In February each year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommends the different strains of influenza viruses that should be included in the vaccines for use against influenza beginning in the fall. iBio vaccine technology holds the potential to significantly reduce the lead time required to manufacture influenza vaccines, thereby enabling selection of the virus strains for vaccine development closer to the time the vaccine product is actually needed. These time efficiency advantages may be applicable to other rapidly mutating virus pathogens in addition to influenza.
About iBio, Inc.
iBio is developing a proprietary product, IBIO-CFB03, for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, systemic sclerosis, and other fibrotic diseases using its iBioLaunch™ gene expression platform. The company also offers proprietary products and product licenses to others, based on its proprietary iBioLaunch™ gene expression and iBioModulator™ thermostable immunomodulator protein platforms, providing collaborators full support for turn-key implementation of its technology for protein therapeutics and vaccines. In Brazil, iBio has formed a subsidiary company, iBio do Brasil Biofarmaceutical Ltda., and has been collaborating with the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) since 2011 to develop a recombinant yellow fever vaccine based on iBio technology.
The iBioLaunch™ gene expression platform is a proprietary, transformative technology for development and production of biologics using transient gene expression in unmodified green plants. The iBioModulator™ platform is complementary to the iBioLaunch™ gene expression platform and is designed to significantly improve vaccine products with both higher potency and greater duration of effect. Further information is available at: www.ibioinc.com.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
STATEMENTS INCLUDED IN THIS NEWS RELEASE RELATED TO IBIO, INC. MAY CONSTITUTE FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS WITHIN THE MEANING OF THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995. SUCH STATEMENTS INVOLVE A NUMBER OF RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES SUCH AS COMPETITIVE FACTORS, TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT, MARKET DEMAND, AND THE COMPANY’S ABILITY TO OBTAIN NEW CONTRACTS AND ACCURATELY ESTIMATE NET REVENUES DUE TO VARIABILITY IN SIZE, SCOPE AND DURATION OF PROJECTS. FURTHER INFORMATION ON POTENTIAL RISK FACTORS THAT COULD AFFECT THE COMPANY’S FINANCIAL RESULTS CAN BE FOUND IN THE COMPANY’S REPORTS FILED WITH THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION.
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