-Prestigious recognition for Medicago's VLP vaccine technology platform-
QUEBEC CITY, Aug. 23, 2011 /PRNewswire/ - Medicago Inc. (TSX: MDG), a biotechnology company focused on developing highly effective and competitive vaccines based on proprietary manufacturing technologies and Virus-Like Particles (VLPs), today announced it has won the 2011 Frost & Sullivan Enabling Technology of the Year award in the vaccine market. This award recognizes Medicago's achievements and leadership in the development of rapid and highly-effective plant-based VLP vaccines.
The award was the result of Frost & Sullivan's discussions with clients, industry influencers, and technology vendors throughout the year, as well as an objective, comparative analysis of several companies' performance based on quantitative and qualitative metrics along several criteria including development of new products, enhancement of current products, delivery of new applications, and market acceptance.
"We are honoured to be presented with this distinguished award which provides further validation of our leadership and innovation in the development of rapid and highly-effective plant-based VLP vaccines," said Andy Sheldon, President and CEO of Medicago.
"During a time of epidemic, as was the case of the pandemic flu, it can be difficult to increase the supply of vaccines to meet the demand. Increasing supply depends on the quantity of chicken eggs, which makes it difficult to access at short notice. To be successful in such a scenario, vaccine manufacturers should employ vaccine manufacturing technologies that curtail the development time significantly, while also being able to sustain low cost. Non-egg based technologies have the ability to adapt to the new virus strains quickly, leading to fast development and launch of successful therapeutic vaccines," stated Research Analyst, Rahul Sen Gupta- Frost & Sullivan.
"Medicago offers a unique approach to the vaccines market. Its proprietary plant-based Proficia vaccines development technology is an innovative alternative to traditional and prevailing vaccine production systems such as egg-based and cell-based vaccine production technologies. Medicago's Proficia transient protein expression technology platform enables fast production of vaccines at a lower cost than existing production systems that dominate the market today," continued Mr. Sen Gupta - Frost & Sullivan.
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About Medicago
Medicago is committed to provide highly effective and competitive vaccines based on proprietary Virus-Like Particle (VLP) and manufacturing technologies. Medicago is developing VLP vaccines to protect against pandemic and seasonal influenza, using a transient expression system which produces recombinant vaccine antigens in the cells of non-transgenic plants. This technology has potential to offer advantages of speed and cost over competitive technologies. It promises a vaccine for testing in about a month after the identification and reception of genetic sequences from a pandemic strain. This production time frame has the potential to allow vaccination of the population before the first wave of a pandemic strikes and to supply large volumes of vaccine antigens to the world market. Additional information about Medicago is available at www.medicago.com.