VIENNA, AUSTRIA--(Marketwire - July 22, 2010) - Researchers at Oslo University Hospital and Bionor Pharma's subsidiary, Bionor Immuno AS today presented results from a recently conducted re-vaccination study at Norway's largest hospital, using Vacc-4x, the company's furthest advanced HIV-vaccine candidate. Twenty six of the forty HIV-patients from the 2002/03 phase IIa study were followed-up and re-vaccinated during the period January 2010-June 2010.
The data from 22 Vacc-4x primary responders was presented today in Vienna, Austria at the XVIII International AIDS Conference as a "late breaker" poster titled "Longterm proliferative CD4+ and CD8+ T cell memory detected 7 years after intradermal immunizations against short HIV Gag p24-like peptides targeting dendritic cells." The abstract number is LB17810.
The 22 patients were studied prior to a voluntary "re-boost" of Vacc-4x. Results from the reboost of the 26 patients are expected in August / September.
"The Vacc-4x immunization technology using short peptide analogues to conserved viral protein domains has shown not only development of surprisingly long-term immunological memory T cells in these immunocompromised patients, but also that viral sequences changes during intermittent treatment interruptions were negligible," said Professor Dag Kvale, Oslo University Hospital, co-author of the study.
"Given this new data, and because Vacc-4x is comprised of 4 modified peptides that target conserved domains of the HIV p24 protein, we are especially optimistic about our ability to control HIV," said Birger Sørensen, CEO, Bionor Immuno. "The research indicates that the vaccine is stimulating an immune response seven years after injection, which is, in itself, unprecedented in HIV. But we know we have more work to do."
Vacc-4x has completed an international phase IIb placebo controlled, double-blind, multi-national trial in volunteers with HIV who stopped daily antiretroviral treatment. Data from this study is expected in September/October.
With over 25,000 attendees, the International AIDS Conference (www.aids2010.org) is the largest HIV/AIDS conference globally. It is held every second year and is an important meeting place for the international HIV scientific community, pharmaceutical industry, politicians and media. The Scientific Programme Committee of the conference selects poster presenters based on a scientific peer-review process. Therefore, the selection of the abstract from Bionor Pharma is a recognition from the scientific community of both its news interest and high scientific standards, even more because the abstract was a late breaker.
About Bionor Immuno
Bionor Immuno is an innovative biotech company developing pharmaceutical-grade peptide vaccines that stimulate cell-mediated immunity using T-cell stimulation. Bionor Immuno carefully designs synthetic peptides from non-mutating parts of the virus with improved immunogenicity, resulting in improved efficacy and safety profiles. HIV is the first disease targeted, with the most advanced vaccine candidate about to finish clinical phase IIb. However, Bionor Immuno's platform technology is broadly applicable, and the company has vaccine candidates also for chronic infections such as Hepatitis C (HCV), Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) and Influenza. Bionor Immuno is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bionor Pharma ASA, listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange (
Contact Information:
Contact information Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
Dag Kvale, Professor, MD, PhD
+47 22 11 91 00