REGENSBURG, GERMANY -- 02/20/08 --
- The US Patent Office has awarded GENEART two US patents titled
"Genome of the HIV-1 inter-subtype (C/B') and use thereof"
- The EuroVacc Foundation has successfully tested the protected gene
sequences in a Phase I trial for use as HIV vaccine
- Further clinical Phase I/II studies of the licensed gene sequences
have been initiated for 2008 by the EuroVacc Foundation
- These clinical results underscore the importance of the GENEART
technology for pharmaceutical research
Regensburg, February 20, 2008 - The GENEART AG announces the award of
the patents US 7,332,588 and US 7,323,557 titled "Genome of the HIV-1
inter-subtype (C/B') and use thereof" by the United States Patent and
Trademark Office. The above-mentioned patents protect the use of
specific custom-designed HIV gene sequences for the development as
therapeutics or vaccines.
Recently, the now patent-protected gene sequences have been tested as
HIV vaccine candidates on 40 test persons by the EuroVacc Foundation
in a phase I clinical trial. The trial has turned out to be
successful. The results of this study have been published in "The
Journal of Experimental Medicine" (Vol. 205, 63-77). In the trial,
the prophylactic vaccination proved to be safe and well tolerated,
and it triggered a strong and lasting immune response in 90 % of the
vaccinated test persons in London and Lausanne. As the licensor,
GENEART provided the patented gene sequences (structural design) for
the tested vaccines. The synthetic genes were custom-designed by the
scientists at GENEART and the University of Regensburg. These genes
serve as the basis for the vaccine candidates, which are used in the
so-called "prime boost" procedure as naked DNA (DNA-HIV-C), and with
a genetically modified small pox vaccine (NYVAC-HIV-C) as a carrier
system. The further clinical I/II studies with 120 test persons in
Lausanne, London, Paris and Regensburg started already in the
beginning of 2008, under the patronage of the European research
cluster EuroVacc.
"We take delight in the exceptional results of this clinical trial.
Once again, we are looking at convincing proof for the extraordinary
value of the GENEART technology platform for pharmaceutical research.
The outcome is also a good example for the use of our expertise in a
license based business strategy without having to burden GENEART with
the financial project risks of clinical trials" explains Professor
Dr. Ralf Wagner, CEO of the GENEART AG and Head of the Department for
Molecular Microbiology & Gene Therapy at the University of
Regensburg.
For further inquiries, please contact:
GENEART AG Better Orange IR & HV AG
Josef-Engert-Str. 11 Frank Ostermair
93053 Regensburg Haidelweg 48
Germany 81241 Munich
www.geneart.com Germany
Phone: +49-(0)89-88 96 906-10
Prof. Dr. Ralf Wagner Fax: +49-(0)89-88 96 906-66
CEO/CSO info@better-orange.de
Phone: +49-(0)941-942 76 - 613 www.better-orange.de
Fax: +49-(0)941-942 76 - 711
ralf.wagner@geneart.com
Bernd Merkl
Manager Investor Relations
Phone: +49-(0)941-942 76 - 638
Fax: +49-(0)941-942 76 - 711
ir@geneart.com
Legal Information
This document may contain estimates, prognoses and opinions about
company plans and objectives, products or services, future results,
opinions about these results or opinions leading up to these results.
All these projections into the future are subject to risk,
uncertainty and unforeseeable change outside the control of the
GENEART Group. Many factors may lead to actual results, which
considerably deviate from the given projections for these results.
About GENEART AG
In 2000, GENEART entered the gene synthesis market and has since
become the global market leader. Today, the company is one of the
leading specialists in the synthetic biology field. Experts at
GENEART provide key technologies for the development and production
of new therapeutics and vaccines. Customers also take advantage of
GENEART services to customize enzyme attributes, such as the
attributes of enzymes used as detergent additives, and to construct
bacteria, which produce complex biopolymers or break down polymers,
such as synthetics, petroleum components, etc. Our production and
service spectrum spans a wide range, from the production of synthetic
genes according to DIN EN ISO 9001-2000, to the creation of gene
libraries in the combinatorial biology, to the development and
production of DNA-based biologically active substances. The GENEART
AG in Regensburg (Germany) and the subsidiary GENEART Inc. in Toronto
(Canada) employ more than 190 people. Since May 2006, GENEART is
listed on the German Stock Exchange.
Copyright © Hugin AS 2008. All rights reserved.
