Single vaccine for anthrax and plague: iBio confirms grant of rights

iBio, Inc. (OTCBB: IBPM) confirmed today the grant of rights to use iBio's proprietary technology, the iBioLaunch™ platform, in support of a $5.3 million government-funded project for the development of a single vaccine to protect against both anthrax and plague. The project will be managed by Fraunhofer USA Center for Molecular Biotechnology (CMB) pursuant to the long-term agreement between iBio and CMB for advancement of the iBio technology.

“We expect to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of a one-shot vaccine in animal tests in preparation for clinical development.”

"We believe this program will further demonstrate the ability of our technology to produce novel products rapidly, effectively and economically," said Robert Kay, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of iBio, Inc.

"We are confident in our ability to deliver on the objective of this contract," said Dr. Vidadi Yusibov, Executive Director of CMB. "We expect to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of a one-shot vaccine in animal tests in preparation for clinical development."

iBio and CMB have developed a new biologics production platform based on the use of green plants to manufacture vaccines and therapeutic proteins. The technology has been successfully applied to a variety of candidate products, including an avian influenza vaccine planned to be the first product to enter a human clinical trial in 2010.