Transgene Manufactures Clinical Lots of HIV Vaccine Candidates for the EUROVAC Project
STRASBOURG, France, Jul 1, 2004 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- Transgene
(Nasdaq: TRGNY; Nouveau Marche:
FR0005175080) today announced that it
manufactured clinical lots of HIV vaccine candidates in the frame of EUROVAC
(European Vaccine Effort against HIV/AIDS), a European cluster of 21
laboratories, funded since 2000 by the European Union under the 5th Framework
Programme.
Partners of EUROVAC, the Karolinska Institutet and Aventis Pasteur, recognizing
Transgene's know-how in the field of recombinant vaccines production, selected
the company to produce clinical lots of NYVAC-based vaccines carrying genes of
HIV-1. Production was completed in Transgene's manufacturing facility located
near Strasbourg, through adaptation of its own MVA manufacturing process to the
production of NYVAC-based products. NYVAC and MVA are both attenuated strains of
the vaccinia virus.
"We are very proud of the confidence put in us by the Karolinska Institutet,
EUROVAC and Aventis Pasteur for our manufacturing capabilities of recombinant
vaccines," stated Jean-Francois Carmier, Chief Executive Officer of Transgene.
"We believe manufacturing contracts add value to our expertise, while
contributing to reducing our burn rate."
About Transgene
Transgene, based in Strasbourg, France, is a biopharmaceutical company dedicated
to the discovery and development of therapeutic vaccines, immunotherapy
products, and delivery technologies for the treatment of diseases for which
there is no cure or adequate treatment at present, with a focus on the treatment
of cancer. Transgene has five products in clinical development, two of which are
in Phase II clinical trials, two in Phase I/II and one that has completed Phase
I clinical trial. Transgene's proprietary vector technology platform consists of
adenovirus and poxvirus.
This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements
regarding Transgene manufacturing capabilities. Statements that are not
historical facts are based on Transgene's current expectations, beliefs,
estimates, forecasts and assumptions, including Transgene's expectations related
to the reproducibility in humans of the preclinical results, progress in the
clinical trials and Transgene's belief as to the potential to successfully
manufacture products for the effective treatment of illness. The statements
contained in this release are not guarantees of future performance and involve
certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions which are difficult to predict.
Accordingly, actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what is
expressed in those forward-looking statements. Important factors which may
affect Transgene's future operating results include the following: Transgene's
product candidates may not demonstrate therapeutic efficacy after initial
promising results, Transgene may be unable to obtain regulatory approval for its
product candidates, Transgene may be unable to conduct its clinical trials as
quickly as it has predicted, Transgene's clinical trials may not produce results
sufficient to justify further product development, Transgene may not have
sufficient resources to complete the research, manufacturing and
commercialization of any of its product candidates, competitors may develop
technologies or products superior to Transgene's technologies or products,
Transgene may not be able to successfully enforce the intellectual property
rights in all jurisdictions relating to its product candidates and other
important factors described in Transgene's Annual Report on Form 20-F for the
year ended December 31, 2003 filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission, including those factors described in the section entitled "Risk
Factors."
SOURCE Transgene
CONTACT: Michel Hubert, VP Business Development, Transgene,
+33-3-88-27-91-12; Michael Long, Cohn & Wolfe, +1-212-798-9775; Estelle
Guillot-Tantay, +33-1-53-70-74-93, or Laurence Heilbronn, +33-1-53-70-74-64,
both of Image 7, for Transgene
(TRGNY)
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