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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
IAVI and Therion Form Collaboration to
Advance Preventative Vaccines for AIDS
-- Program Aimed at Fighting
AIDS in Developing Countries --
New York, NY and Cambridge, MA, March 20, 2001 - In
continuing efforts to curb the global spread of
AIDS, The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative
(IAVI) and Therion Biologics will collaborate as
new partners to develop prophylactic AIDS vaccines
for developing countries, specifically India. The
unique partnership brings together Therion's
demonstrated expertise in vaccine technology,
IAVI's development capabilities and Indian
scientists focused in AIDS research.
Under terms of the collaboration, IAVI will fully
fund Therion's work in designing, engineering and
manufacturing a novel AIDS vaccine specific for the
strain of HIV (subtype C) common to India. Pending
necessary approvals from appropriate regulatory
agencies, IAVI intends to accelerate this vaccine
into clinical trials. The announcement follows
yesterday's signing of an agreement between IAVI
and India's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
for a commitment to develop and evaluate preventive
AIDS vaccines for use in the country.
"Despite tremendous pharmaceutical advances for the
treatment of AIDS, modern health practitioners
worldwide still do not have the necessary medical
tools to end the rampant spread of HIV," said Seth
Berkley, M.D., President and CEO of IAVI.
"Vaccines resulting from this collaboration will
not only benefit the population of India, but also
have the potential to aid many other developing
nations. We believe Therion will be a valuable
partner in these efforts. We look forward to
bringing the company's expertise in vaccine
development to bear on our global AIDS research."
"An AIDS vaccine for the world's poorest countries
is an international public good that isn't likely
to happen without innovative public-private
collaborations such as this one," Dr. Berkley
added. "IAVI seeks to maximize the number of
promising vaccine candidates in clinical trials.
This is the sixth AIDS vaccine candidate IAVI has
selected for fast-track development under our
'social venture capital' model. Unlike traditional
venture capitalists, who seek equity in return for
their investments, IAVI seeks a commitment that a
successful vaccine will be provided to the poor in
developing countries at a reasonable price."
"IAVI's selection of Therion for this AIDS
initiative illustrates our international leadership
in vaccine technology, as well as our strong track
record in developing pox virus-based vaccine
products," stated Dennis Panicali, Ph.D., President
and Chief Executive Officer of Therion Biologics.
"Further, the collaboration underscores our
commitment to advancing AIDS prevention worldwide.
We believe this is an important opportunity to use
our technology to aid India and other developing
countries so affected by the AIDS pandemic."
Specifically, Therion will develop for IAVI a
preventive AIDS vaccine based on the MVA pox virus
vector. Preclinical research, as well as the
recent entry of the first MVA-HIV vaccine into
clinical testing as part of the IAVI/Oxford/Kenya
partnership, has already demonstrated the promise
of recombinant MVA vaccines expressing antigens
from HIV. Unlike most other AIDS vaccines in
development, however, which are based on the HIV
subtype B prevalent in the U.S. and Europe, the
Therion/IAVI vaccine will be based on the HIV
subtype C isolate from India. By combining MVA
vectors with subtype C HIV antigens, Therion aims
to apply its vaccine technology for rapid,
cost-effective development and manufacture of an
India-specific AIDS vaccine.
Background on HIV & AIDS
According to the UNAIDS and World Health
Organization's December 2000 report, 36.1 million
people in the world are currently living with AIDS
or HIV. Of those 36.1 million, 5.8 million are
residents of South and Southeast Asia, with more
than 3.7 million people affected in India alone.
The report also notes that AIDS now kills more
people worldwide than any other infectious disease.
With more than 95% of all new HIV infections in
developing countries, AIDS is among the most
serious threats not only to global health, but also
to global development.
About IAVI
The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative is an
international nonprofit scientific organization
founded in 1996 whose mission is to ensure the
development of safe, effective, accessible,
preventive HIV vaccines for use throughout the
world. IAVI's work focuses on four areas: creating
global demand for AIDS vaccines through advocacy
and education; accelerating scientific progress;
encouraging industrial involvement in AIDS vaccine
development; and assuring global access. Two
IAVI-sponsored vaccines developed for Africa are
already in clinical trials, and IAVI is committed
to moving other candidate vaccines for developing
countries into clinical trials as quickly as
possible. IAVI is a UNAIDS collaborating center.
Its major donors include the Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the
Sloan Foundation and the Starr Foundation; the
governments of the United Kingdom, the United
States, the Netherlands, Canada and Ireland; and
the World Bank. For more information, visit
www.iavi.org.
About Therion
Therion Biologics Corporation is engaged in the
development of therapeutic vaccines for cancer and
preventive vaccines for AIDS. Currently, Therion
has two lead products for colorectal and prostate
cancer, ALVAC-CEA/B7.1 and PROSTVAC-VF
respectively, moving into pivotal clinical trials
in the next two years. The company also has a
broad pipeline of vaccines in early clinical
development for treatment of major cancers,
including breast cancer, lung cancer, melanoma and
other solid tumors. Therion's partners include
Aventis Pasteur, the National Cancer Institute and
a network of leading clinical institutions around
the world. Therion is headquartered in Cambridge,
Massachusetts.
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Contacts:
Dennis L. Panicali, Ph.D.
President and CEO
Therion Biologics Corporation
(617) 876-7779
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Kay Marshall
Director of Communications
International AIDS Vaccine Initiative
(212) 847-1044
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Sharon Karlsberg or
Wendy Soutsos
Feinstein Kean Healthcare Inc
(617) 577-8110
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