PharmAthene, Inc. (NYSE Amex: PIP), a biodefense company developing medical countermeasures against biological and chemical threats, today announced results from a New Zealand White Rabbit study showing that its lyophilized recombinant Protective Antigen (rPA) anthrax vaccine was more immunogenic than a liquid formulation of rPA vaccine and produced a robust response with only 2 doses.
The data were presented in a poster presentation entitled "Enhanced Immunogenicity in the New Zealand White Rabbit Model from a Lyophilized Anthrax Vaccine that is Reconstituted at Point-of-Use" at the 2010 International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases by Dr. Elizabeth Leffel, Director of Non-Clinical Sciences at PharmAthene.
Dr. Valerie Riddle, Senior Vice President and Medical Director for PharmAthene, commented, "Recently, the bipartisan Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism reiterated concerns that the United States is failing to address the threat posed to our citizens and military from a possible biological attack. As we learned following the supply shortages last year of H1N1 vaccine, it is critically important that our government ensure we have adequate quantities of safe and effective medical countermeasures to deter or respond to a bioterror attack. PharmAthene is committed to innovating and developing next generation anthrax vaccines and anti-toxins that offer improvements over earlier technologies, and we look forward to continued successful collaboration with our partners at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and at the Office of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to advance these important medical countermeasures to protect Americans at home and on the battlefield."
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