Biotech Values

[poorgradstudent]

This might be what keeps Genvec solvent in the long run...

But we'll never know if they don't provide data.

Results From Phase I HIV Vaccine Study Reported at Keystone Symposium
Friday April 15, 8:00 am ET

GAITHERSBURG, Md., April 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- GenVec, Inc. (Nasdaq: GNVC - News) announced that safety and immune response data were presented from the first of several ongoing Phase I clinical trials involving an HIV vaccine candidate developed jointly by GenVec and the Vaccine Research Center (VRC) of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health. The data presented showed that the vaccine was well-tolerated and immunogenic at each dose level.

Barney S. Graham, M.D., Ph.D., the VRC study investigator, presented study results at the "HIV Vaccines: Current Challenges and Future Prospects" Keystone Symposium in Banff, Alberta, Canada, indicating that the vaccine was generally well-tolerated in 36 healthy adult volunteers and produced both antibody and cellular immune responses to the three different HIV antigens in the vaccine. The vaccine is the first of its kind to use an adenovector (gene carrier) to deliver genes from all three of the major subtypes, or clades, of HIV causing the global AIDS pandemic, and responses were detected to each of those subtypes. The double-blind, placebo-controlled, dose-escalation study tested three different dose levels, with ten volunteers receiving vaccine injections and two receiving placebo injections at each dose level.

The VRC is also testing the multi-clade adenovector vaccine delivered as a booster to a DNA vaccine to assess safety and help determine whether the vaccine, used as a booster, can provide a stronger immune response to HIV than DNA vaccine alone.

The multi-clade adenovector vaccine was developed using GenVec's proprietary adenovector technology and the Company's 293-ORF6 production cell line. GenVec produced the vaccine under a $40 million subcontract issued and managed by SAIC-Frederick that extends through 2008. All clinical testing is being conducted by the VRC.

GenVec is a publicly held clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of novel therapies that improve patient care in the areas of cancer and cardiac disease, and to prevent vision loss. GenVec's vaccine program applies the Company's unique delivery technology and 293-ORF6 cell line to develop vaccines against a variety of diseases, including HIV, malaria, and foot and mouth disease. The vaccine candidate discussed in this release has not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration or any other regulatory agency. GenVec is not responsible for the design or conduct of the clinical trials discussed in this release. Additional information on GenVec is available at http://www.genvec.com and in the Company's various filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.