NEWARK, Del., Sept. 18, 2008 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- iBioPharma, Inc. (OTCBB:IBPM) (the "Company") announced today that the Company has selected a plant-made influenza vaccine as its first product candidate for clinical development. Favorable efficacy data from preclinical studies in the ferret model influenced the Company's decision. Ferrets are the standard species for testing the efficacy of candidate influenza vaccines prior to human clinical trials.
"The ferret data convinced us to accelerate our plan to evaluate our flu vaccine candidate in humans. We expect to file our Investigational New Drug Application with the FDA during the second quarter of 2009," said Robert B. Kay, Chairman and CEO of iBioPharma. "Using our plant-based technologies to produce flu vaccines, we address some of the major concerns of scalability, cost, time efficiency and lack of surge capacity that affect current methods of production."
The unique benefits of the iBioPharma plant-based technologies have attracted competitive funding from the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) of the U.S. Department of Defense. DARPA's support significantly advanced the practical utility of the platform for production of influenza and other vaccines.
iBioPharma has been funding development of its plant-based platform for the production of vaccine antigens, monoclonal antibodies and other therapeutic proteins since 2003 with the Fraunhofer USA Center for Molecular Biotechnology ("CMB"). Over the last five years, CMB has successfully demonstrated preclinical efficacy of vaccine candidates produced in green plants for influenza, human papilloma virus (HPV), anthrax, plague and other infectious disease targets. iBioPharma has exclusive rights to the proprietary platform and its product applications in the fields of human health, influenza diagnostics and influenza veterinary vaccines.
The worldwide market for influenza vaccines was estimated to be $2.2 billion and 350 million doses in 2006. The annual demand varies, but some analysts estimate that the worldwide market may grow to $4 billion by 2010.
About iBioPharma, Inc. (IBPM)
iBioPharma (OTCBB:IBPM) is a biopharmaceutical company focused on vaccines and therapeutic antibodies developed and produced using its proprietary plant-based technologies. Further information is available at www.ibiopharma.com.
Statements included in this release related to iBioPharma, Inc. may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties such as competitive factors, technological development, market demand, and the Company's ability to obtain new contracts and accurately estimate net revenues due to variability in size, scope and duration of projects. Further information on potential risk factors that could affect the Company's financial results can be found in the company's Reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.