VaxGen

VaxGen was a biopharmaceutical company based in the San Francisco Bay Area.

On July 28, 2010, VaxGen Inc. was acquired by diaDexus, Inc., in a reverse merger transaction.[1] VaxGen, Inc. does not have significant operations. The company seeks to enter into a strategic transaction or series of strategic transactions. Previously, it was engaged in the development of vaccines that immunize against infectious disease. The company was founded in 1995 and was based in South San Francisco, California.

AIDSVAX

In the 1990s VaxGen developed, and began trials of, an AIDS vaccine called AIDSVAX. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) worked with Vaxgen when Vaxgen was developing its AIDS vaccine. Specifically, NIAID and Vaxgen worked together on research projects related to the body's immune response to the vaccine. As of 1998, according to NIAID, "The three-year study [of AIDSVAX] is the first large-scale trial of an HIV preventive vaccine and will involve 5,000 volunteers at about 40 clinical sites in North America."[2]

However, in 2003 it was announced that the preliminary trials of the vaccine, conducted in Thailand and Indianapolis, Indiana had been unsuccessful.[3][4]

Anthrax vaccine

Vaxgen had focused its recent efforts on a new form of Anthrax Vaccine, for which it was awarded a $877 million contract to provide the vaccine under the Project Bioshield Act.[5] In December 2006, HHS unilaterally withdrew the $877 million contract, sending the stock tumbling as low as $1.20 per share.


References

  1. ↑ "VaxGen to Acquire diaDexus in a Stock-for-Stock Merger Under Revised Terms". Diadexus.
  2. ↑ "NIAID Collaborates with VaxGen on Vaccine Studies" (Press release). National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. 18 August 1998. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
  3. ↑ "BBC News article on the failure of the AIDSVAX trial". November 12, 2003. Retrieved January 6, 2010.
  4. ↑ "Community Medical Research Institute Begins Inoculations in AIDSVAX Trial".
  5. ↑ Williams, David (August 2, 2008). "Anthrax scientist Bruce Ivins stood to benefit from a panic". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2008-08-01. Ivins is listed as a co-inventor on two patents for a genetically engineered anthrax vaccine, federal records show. Separately, Ivins also is listed as a co-inventor on an application to patent an additive for various biodefense vaccines.

External links

Historically was http://www.VaxGen.com. This URL is no longer for the Vaxgen, Inc. in this article.


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