January 8, 2010 (FinancialWire) — Vical Inc. (NASDAQ: VICL) said that systematic in vivo testing of the company’s Vaxfectin(R) adjuvant shows that it increased antibody and T-cell responses primarily by stimulating the immune system rather than simply increasing vaccine uptake.

The results, published in the journal Vaccine(1), validate encouraging results with the Vaxfectin(R) adjuvant in prior animal and human studies, and position Vaxfectin(R) as a potential “universal” adjuvant for a broad range of vaccines.

Vaxfectin(R) has been shown in multiple animal models to dramatically increase the antibody and T-cell immune responses to antigens expressed from plasmid DNA vaccines. Results from two Phase 1 clinical trials of Vaxfectin(R)-formulated H5N1 influenza DNA vaccines demonstrated strong antibody responses and achieved T-cell responses in 75% to 100% of subjects in various dose cohorts. Vaxfectin(R) has demonstrated similar effect with protein-based vaccines, and the formulation can be adjusted to favor specific immune responses.

The current study involved expression profiling in mice as well as real-time PCR and flow cytometry. Using DNA microarrays of 39,000 transcripts, the analyses showed a significant increase in genes involved in antigen processing and presentation, apoptosis and innate immunity pathways. In addition, local and systemic levels of cytokines driving both antibody and T-cell responses were increased. Immunohistochemistry of injected muscles also revealed an increase of infiltrated macrophages as early as 24 hours after administration.

Vical researches and develops biopharmaceutical products based on its patented DNA delivery technologies for the prevention and treatment of serious or life-threatening diseases. Potential applications of the company’s DNA delivery technology include DNA vaccines for infectious diseases or cancer, in which the expressed protein is an immunogen; cancer immunotherapeutics, in which the expressed protein is an immune system stimulant; and cardiovascular therapies, in which the expressed protein is an angiogenic growth factor.

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