Vical Announces Publication of Vaxfectin Data

Vical Incorporated

today announced the publication of a new article1 in the journal Vaccine detailing results from the company's completed guinea pig studies with the company's Vaxfectin®-formulated plasmid DNA (pDNA) vaccines against herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2). These results, along with previously published results from mouse studies, support the company's decision to advance toward clinical testing, which is expected to begin in the second half of 2013. HSV-2 is a sexually transmitted virus which is the leading cause of genital herpes. Approximately one out of every six individuals worldwide is infected by HSV-2 before age 50. HSV-2 infections are persistent and can result in debilitating genital lesions, as well as periodic virus shedding placing sexual partners at risk. HSV-2 infection also significantly increases the risk of acquiring HIV-1. There is no approved vaccine for HSV-2. About Vical 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