GroPep will supply these vaccine antigens to the MVI for formulation and subsequent use in human clinical trials - expected to start in 2007.
Listed biopharmaceutical company GroPep Limited (ASX :GRO) announced today that it had successfully completed the second and final milestone of its agreement with the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative to manufacture malaria vaccine candidates for testing in human clinical trials.
GroPep reported the successful completion to Milestone 1 of the vaccine project in September 2003, developing scalable manufacturing processes for two malaria vaccine candidates.
Milestone 2 required scale-up of production and manufacturing to appropriate quality standards to enable the potential malaria vaccines to be tested in human safety trials. A sufficient quantity of each vaccine antigen has been manufactured.
PATH is an international, non-profit organisation that creates sustainable, culturally relevant solutions allowing global communities to break long-standing cycles of poor health. The Malaria Vaccine Initiative's (MVI) mission is to accelerate the development of malarial vaccines for the developing world. Malaria kills 7000 people each week and there is no vaccine.
MVI Director, Dr Melinda Moree congratulated GroPep on completing this important project milestone. "GroPep has made an important contribution to the quest to develop a vaccine against malaria."
GroPep's CEO, Bob Finder said that the manufacturing project had provided GroPep with a number of technical challenges that had been successfully met.
"As a Company, we are pleased to have successfully completed our part of the project, which may ultimately reduce the impact of this disease on millions of people worldwide," he said.
About GroPep
GroPep is a world leader in the development, manufacture and
commercialisation of biologically active proteins for cell culture and biomedical research. The Company has an active biopharmaceutical development program that establishes proof of concept for products in humans and partners the later stages of product development and marketing with major pharmaceutical companies. GroPep is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange Limited (ASX
code: GRO).
Further Information:
Mr Tony Mitchell
Chief Financial Officer/Investor Relations Ph: +61 8 8354 7700
investorrelations@gropep.com.au