RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., July 26 /PRNewswire/ -- AlphaVax, a North Carolina-based vaccine company, announces the issuance on July 18th of U.S. Patent No. 7,078,218 entitled, “Alphavirus particles and methods for preparation.” Claims in this patent cover a broad series of innovative steps that together compose a scaleable process for manufacturing alphavirus replicon particle vaccines (alphavaccines).
The company’s alphavaccine platform allows the incorporation of a wide range of antigens to produce vaccines targeting infectious disease, cancer and biodefense threats. AlphaVax has counterparts to this patent pending or issued in ten major countries and regions throughout the world.
“These key enabling process steps allow AlphaVax to meet the scale-up and regulatory requirements for commercialization and reflect our emphasis on downstream process and product development,” said Chief Scientific Officer, Jonathan Smith, Ph.D. “We continue to build a body of know-how and patents surrounding the alphavaccine technology and the issuance of this patent is a keystone in the company’s proprietary strategy.”
The new process has been used for the manufacture of alphavaccines for such disease targets as HIV, AlphaVax’s first candidate to enter clinical development, influenza and cytomegalovirus (CMV), which are scheduled to enter clinical trials in the near future. “This patent reflects our focus on the practical aspects of creating products that can change the vaccine marketplace,” commented Peter Young, AlphaVax president and CEO. “This is an integral part of our competitive expertise,” he noted, “and I am pleased to announce the issuance of this patent, allowing us to showcase some of our exemplary proprietary techniques.”
About AlphaVax
AlphaVax, Inc. is a clinical-stage company focused on developing new vaccine products for infectious diseases, biodefense and cancer.
AlphaVax uses a novel alphavirus vector platform technology that has proven to be highly flexible and immunogenic, and allows the same manufacturing process and formulation strategies to be applied to many different products. The company began operations in 1997 and has attracted more than $80 million in corporate partner and grant funding, which it has used to leverage its development progress and to build a broad product pipeline.
In addition to partnered programs, important alphavaccine disease targets include pandemic influenza, cytomegalovirus, HIV and cancer, as well as a number of biodefense vaccine targets. Currently, AlphaVax is completing a Phase I clinical trial, evaluating an HIV alphavaccine candidate, which is funded by the National Institutes of Health. The company is working to initiate additional clinical trials for several other disease and biodefense targets. AlphaVax is located in Research Triangle Park, N.C. and employs 77 staff in a state-of-the-art, 30,000-square-foot research and development facility. The company also manages a GMP manufacturing operation in a leased vaccine production facility in Lenoir, N.C.
AlphaVax, Inc.
CONTACT: Bolyn Hubby, Ph.D. of AlphaVax, +1-919-595-0341
Web site: http://www.alphavax.com//
