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PUBLISHED STUDY DEMONSTRATES EFFICACY OF SMALLPOX VACCINE

September 2, 2005

VaxGen has announced that a study published in the September issue of the Journal of Virology provides data showing that a single dose of VaxGen's smallpox vaccine candidate LC16m8 provides mice with 100 percent protection from vaccinia, a relative of the smallpox virus. The purpose of the study was to compare the efficacy of LC16m8 with that of its parent strain, the Lister strain of vaccinia, from which it was derived.

The paper also describes the genetic similarity of LC16m8 to the Lister strain of vaccinia virus. Because of these genetic similarities, and because the Lister strain was used successfully during the World Health Organization's worldwide smallpox eradication campaign, researchers postulate that LC16m8 may provide similarly effective protection against a smallpox outbreak.