Bioject Enters into a Collaborative Research Agreement with IAVI for the Delivery of an HIV Vaccine Candidate

PORTLAND, Ore.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Bioject Medical Technologies Inc. (OTCBB: BJCT), a leading developer of needle-free injection therapy systems, today announced that it has entered into an agreement with the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) to supply its unique Needle-Free Injection Therapy (NFIT) system, the Biojector^® 2000, for the delivery of a DNA-based HIV vaccine candidate that is currently under development. The new agreement extends through December 2009.

“Needle-free injection of a DNA vaccine can provide enhanced immune responses compared with administration by needle and syringe”

IAVI and the St. Stephen’s AIDS Trust at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital have initiated a Phase I clinical trial in London, UK to test a prime-boost combination of two HIV vaccine candidates. One of the vaccine candidates, a DNA-based vaccine called ADVAX, will be administered using the Biojector^® 2000.

“We welcome this collaboration with Bioject to assess the value of their needle-free device for the delivery of this DNA HIV vaccine candidate,” said Dr. Pat Fast, Chief Medical Officer at IAVI. “It is essential that we enhance immune responses against HIV, which may be achieved by optimizing vaccine design, but also by evaluating alternative vaccine delivery methods.”

The trial in London includes ADVAX to prime the immune system prior to the administration of an MVA-based HIV vaccine candidate called TBC-M4. In a previous Phase I trial, TBC-M4 generated modest immune responses in all volunteers who received the highest dose. The rationale for combining TBC-M4 with ADVAX is to improve immune activation. Previous Phase I studies with different DNA and MVA-based HIV vaccines in combination have shown that this prime-boost regimen was safe and well tolerated, and also able to generate enhanced immune responses when compared with the responses generated by either vaccine alone. Furthermore, DNA-based vaccine candidates such as ADVAX may offer value economically, since these vaccines are relatively inexpensive and easy to manufacture, two characteristics that make them particularly appealing for use in the developing world.

ADVAX will be administered with the Biojector® 2000 needle-free injection system. “Needle-free injection of a DNA vaccine can provide enhanced immune responses compared with administration by needle and syringe,” said Dr. Richard Stout, Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Bioject. “We are quite pleased that IAVI has decided to utilize Bioject’s B2000 system in order to explore the potential benefits over needle and syringe,” commented Dr. Stout.

The development of a safe and effective AIDS vaccine is one of the greatest priorities in global health R&D. Today, 33 million people worldwide are living with HIV and 7,500 are newly infected every day. It is vital to have both short-term and long-term solutions to this problem. Treatment must reach those who are infected, and proven prevention tools need to be made available to those who need it. At the same time, greater investment is needed to develop new and better tools to improve control and prevention of HIV infection. An AIDS vaccine offers the best hope for achieving this and to realize a world without AIDS.

About the AIDS vaccine candidates and the trial

TBC-M4 was designed by a biotech firm in the U.S. in collaboration with Dr. Sekhar Chakrabarty from the National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases (NICED) in Kolkata, India. ADVAX was designed by the Aaron Diamond Research Centre in New York, through collaboration with Rockefeller University in New York and IAVI. The Phase I trial in London is sponsored by IAVI and conducted in collaboration with the St. Stephen’s AIDS Trust in London, UK.

About Bioject

Bioject Medical Technologies Inc., based in Portland, Oregon, is an innovative developer and manufacturer of needle-free injection therapy systems (NFITS). NFITS provide an empowering technology and works by forcing medication at high speed through a tiny orifice held against the skin. This creates a fine stream of high-pressure fluid penetrating the skin and depositing medication in the tissue beneath. The Company is focused on developing mutually beneficial agreements with leading pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and veterinary companies.

For more information about Bioject, visit www.bioject.com.