Biovest Announces Viral Vaccine Research Collaboration to Advance Strategy to Support Department of Defense Bio-manufacturing Initiatives
TAMPA, Fla. & MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Biovest International, Inc. (OTCQB: BVTI) today announced that the Company has entered into a research collaboration agreement with Ordway Research Institute, a leading biologics research center in Albany, New York, with a specialized focus on biodefense and emerging infections. Biovest and Ordway will jointly conduct manufacturing studies using Biovest's proprietary hollow fiber bioreactor systems, including the AutovaxIDTM system, in viral growth studies for the purpose of establishing further data confirming the efficiency of Biovest's instruments for the production of a variety of potent virus-fighting products such as vaccines and virus-like particles (VLPs).
The resulting data from the Biovest/Ordway planned studies are expected to support new and ongoing proposals to various agencies within the U.S. Department of Defense to provide innovative solutions to rapidly produce medical countermeasures to protect military and civilian populations. Previously, Biovest reported encouraging viral growth results in preliminary studies using its technology in collaboration with the U.S. Naval Health Research Center (NHRC) with the NHRC presenting those results at the 13th Annual Force Health Protection Conference in 2010.
Dr. Mark Hirschel, Ph.D., Biovest's Chief Scientific Officer, stated, "Last year, the NHRC presented highly encouraging preliminary results demonstrating that Biovest's hollow fiber bio-manufacturing technology is capable of efficiently producing a strain of pandemic A/H1N1 influenza virus. Working closely with Ordway, we aim to expand upon those results by swiftly building a robust body of unequivocal evidence positioning our systems as an ideal platform for the efficient cell culture production of viral vaccines and other anti-viral products. We are currently in discussions with certain agencies within the U.S. Department of Defense as we prepare to pursue significant contract opportunities to meet urgent bioproduction needs."
Ordway's Senior Scientist, Dr. James J. McSharry, also commented, "We believe Ordway offers Biovest with the internationally-recognized biodefense expertise and facilities best suited to accelerate their hollow fiber viral growth studies. Based on the high quantities of influenza virus produced in MDKC cells from the NHRC studies, our project will seek to maximize those viral growth results by moving from the concept stage to the prototype manufacturing stage via large-scale production of virus for vaccines and other novel anti-viral products. We look forward to providing Biovest results from a series of planned studies throughout this year."
About AutovaxIDTM
Biovest developed the AutovaxID bioreactor as an ideal production platform (cGMP compliant) for the scalable manufacture of difficult-to-produce biologics including personalized medicines, monoclonal antibodies, cell culture vaccines and therapeutics targeting highly infectious agents. This system's multiple advantages and benefits have been proven in the production of Biovest's autologous anti-lymphoma vaccine (BiovaxID®) targeting B-cell blood cancers, representing how automated, self-contained, disposable hollow fiber technology is integral toward providing a robust and dependable commercial process for the manufacture of personalized cancer vaccines.
The Naval Health Research Center (NHRC) and Biovest are conducting research studies demonstrating that Biovest's hollow fiber bioreactor systems have the capability to produce high titer influenza virus. This work to date utilizes Biovest's Primer-HF® bioreactor, a disposable single-use hollow fiber instrument designed for producing research quantities of proteins or virus. Future studies are planned to be conducted in the AutovaxIDTM bioreactor for larger-scale GMP production applications.
About Biovest International, Inc.
Biovest International, Inc. is an emerging leader in the field of active personalized immunotherapies. In collaboration with the National Cancer Institute, Biovest has developed a patient-specific, cancer vaccine, BiovaxID®, with three clinical trials completed, including a Phase III study, demonstrating evidence of safety and efficacy for the treatment of indolent follicular non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
Headquartered in Tampa, Florida with its bio-manufacturing facility based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Biovest is publicly-traded on the OTCQBTM Market with the stock-ticker symbol "BVTI", and is a majority-owned subsidiary of Accentia Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (OTCQB: "ABPI").
For further information, please visit: http://www.biovest.com