Formulation of Sanofi Pasteur's Fluzone vaccine with Vaxfectin, also allowed a nearly 10-fold reduction in vaccine dose while generating equivalent or better antibody responses compared with an unformulated vaccine, even at the lowest doses tested.
Vical is developing its own Vaxfectin-formulated DNA vaccine designed to protect against emerging strains of influenza virus that have the potential to cause a pandemic. In previously reported studies, Vical's lead Vaxfectin-formulated, DNA vaccine candidate provided 100% protection in mice and ferrets against lethal challenges with a strain of the H5N1 influenza virus. Initial human testing of Vical's influenza DNA vaccine is expected to begin in the second half of 2007.
Vaxfectin was designed by Vical to increase the immune response to DNA vaccines, and Vaxfectin-formulated DNA vaccines have demonstrated good tolerability and adjuvant activity in multiple animal models. The Fluzone data suggest that Vaxfectin could provide a dose-sparing effect with the government-stockpiled H5N1 pandemic influenza vaccine, also produced by Sanofi Pasteur.