Health and Human Services is giving Iomai the green light to do a mid-stage dose ranging study of its adjuvant patch for bird flu vaccine. HHS provided a $128 million contract backing Iomai's effort last year, and was rewarded with dramatic Phase I/II data on its ability to boost the effectiveness of bird flu vaccine.
The U.S. government, like other governments around the world, has been stockpiling vaccine to fight a potential pandemic. Iomai's patch worked well enough to provide protection to many people after a single dose, rather than the two usually required. That would allow physicians to stretch available vaccines over a much larger population on a much quicker basis.
"The Iomai immunostimulant patch has the potential to change how we react to an influenza pandemic, and we will move ahead quickly with the development of this technology," said Iomai CEO Stanley C. Erck. "Based on the data from this new Phase II study, Iomai and HHS will evaluate whether to proceed next with a pivotal Phase III trial."
- here's the press release
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