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Vical Wins $3.1M Government Grant

San Diego-based biotechnology company Vical Inc. announced March 10 it won a three-year, $3.1 million government grant to fund further development of its experimental vaccine to treat cytomegalovirus disease.

Cytomegalovirus is a member of the herpes virus family that can cause serious problems in persons with weakened immune systems.

The grant supplements a $1 million National Institutes of Health grant that Vical landed in 2004.

The company started a first trial testing the vaccine for safety in March 2004, and started another first safety trial in September.

The results from both trials will be presented at the 10th International Cytomegalovirus/Bethaherpes Workshop in Williamsburg, Va., on April 27 and are expected to support the selection of a single vaccine formulation to be tested in a larger trial in transplant patients.

Cytomegalovirus affects about 30 percent to 60 percent of the estimated 29,000 patients receiving bone marrow or solid organ transplants in the United States annually, causing transplant rejection, serious illness and even death, if left untreated.

Marion Webb

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