Company Overview of Profectus Biosciences, Inc.

Profectus Biosciences, Inc. Presents at EBD Group AG's Biotech showcase 2013, Jan-07-2013 . Venue: Parc 55 Wyndham Union Square Hotel, San Francisco, California, United States.

Profectus Biosciences, Inc. Presents at 2012 BIO International Convention, Jun-18-2012 . Venue: Beston Convention & Exhition Center, Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Speakers: John Eldridge, Chief Scientific Officer of Vaccines.

Profectus Biosciences, Inc. announced that a phase 1 study to test the safety and immunogenicity of a recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus (rVSV)-vectored HIV vaccine initiated on October 26, 2011 and, as of December 27, 2011, 20 volunteers have been immunized. VSV is a type of RNA virus that can infect both insects and mammals. It is commonly used in laboratory settings as a gene delivery vector without the potential for integration, a characteristic that provides a safety advantage in vaccine applications. The first studies to demonstrate the potential of rVSV as an HIV vaccine vector were performed in the laboratories of Dr. John K. Rose at Yale University more than a decade ago. The recombinant version used in this new vaccine study is able to replicate in human cells, but has been attenuated (weakened) so as not to cause illness in animals or humans. The novel rVSV vector, expressing the HIV-1 gag protein, is being evaluated in a trial sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The study is being conducted by the NIAID-funded HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN) under a protocol designated HVTN 090. The phase 1, placebo-controlled, dose-escalation study will enroll 60 HIV-uninfected adults. It will assess the safety and immunogenicity of increasing doses of the rVSV HIV-1 gag vaccine administered by intramuscular injection. Assays conducted by the HVTN Central Immunology Laboratories will measure the ability of the vaccine to induce both antibody and cell-mediated immune responses to the HIV gag protein. The vaccine was found to be safe and immunogenic in non-human primates, and is the first vaccine based on an rVSV platform to be tested in humans. The first clinical evaluation of the rVSV HIV-1 vaccine replication competent delivery vector provides both unique immunogenicity and the high manufacturing yields needed for an HIV vaccine intended for worldwide use. The rVSV HIV-1 gag vaccine consists of an attenuated replication competent form of the Indiana serotype of rVSV that expresses the HIV-1 gag protein. The vaccine was designed to elicit a robust cell mediated immune response to the HIV-1 gag protein, and will be supplied in frozen formulation to this proof-of-concept study. Ongoing studies are examining the potential to develop a lyophilized formulation that will replace the frozen form, and greatly simplify distribution of vaccine to the developing world.