Aeras Signs Agreement with GSK to Jointly Develop TB Vaccine

Aeras announces that it has signed an agreement with GlaxoSmithKline Vaccines, S.A.

to jointly advance the clinical development of an investigational tuberculosis (TB) vaccine containing GSK's proprietary M72 antigen and AS01E* adjuvant.  This novel research and resource-sharing agreement between the largest non-profit TB vaccine biotech and one of the world's leading research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare companies marks advancement in the race to develop new vaccines against TB, a global infectious disease killer.  "This partnership signals our commitment to building innovative collaborations to develop and deliver new TB vaccines," said Jim Connolly, President and Chief Executive Officer of Aeras.  "We will never reverse the spread of the global TB epidemic without new vaccines as part of the solution." The new agreement comes after promising results from early stage clinical trials showed that the GSK TB vaccine candidate known as M72/AS01E* has an acceptable safety and reactogenicity profile and demonstrated an immune response.  Under the new agreement, Aeras and GSK will each provide resources to run a multi-center proof of concept clinical trial to test the vaccine candidate in healthy adults between