January 13, 2010, 2010 (FinancialWire) — Vical Inc. (NASDAQ: VICL) said the U.S. Department of Agriculture has granted the company’s licensee Merial Ltd., the animal health subsidiary of sanofi-aventis, full licensure for its ONCEPT canine melanoma vaccine, a therapeutic DNA vaccine designed to aid in extending survival of dogs with oral melanoma.

Merial plans to launch the product at the North American Veterinary Conference (Orlando, January 16 – 20).

The ONCEPT canine melanoma vaccine contains a gene encoding human tyrosinase, an enzyme associated with skin pigmentation. The tyrosinase produced from the human DNA used in this vaccine is similar to canine tyrosinase and has been shown to stimulate an immune response against canine melanoma cells producing tyrosinase. The use of DNA from a noncanine species causes production of tyrosinase that is considered foreign by the canine immune system (thereby stimulating a potent immune response), yet is similar enough to canine tyrosinase that the dog’s immune response will target canine melanoma cells.

ONCEPT significantly extends survival time following primary tumor removal. Dogs with stage II or III malignant melanoma typically have survival times of less than six months when treated with surgery alone. In a controlled study, dogs vaccinated with ONCEPT following surgery had significantly better survival times than unvaccinated dogs (p<0.0001). Median survival time could not be determined for vaccinated dogs, since more than 50% of the treated dogs were still surviving at the time of publication of the study.

Melanoma is a common type of cancer in dogs and is the most common malignant tumor of the dog’s mouth and can also occur in the nail and footpad. Canine oral melanoma may affect any breed and is a highly aggressive cancer. Normal treatment for canine oral melanoma includes surgery and/or radiation, but even after successful local treatment, the melanoma frequently spreads throughout the body, including the lymph nodes, liver, lungs and kidneys, and is often resistant to chemotherapy.

Vical researches and develops biopharmaceutical products based on its patented DNA delivery technologies for the prevention and treatment of serious or life-threatening diseases.

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