Tampere, Finland – Vactech Oy (Vactech), a biotechnology company focused on development of vaccines for Type 1 Diabetes and other immune mediated diseases, today announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has issued US Patent 7,090,855 B1 covering prevention of Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus and other non-polio enterovirus diseases by eliminating the risk effect of enterovirus infections.

This granted patent has been completed with a divisional application which is still pending.

Field of the invention

The invention relates to the prevention of Type 1 diabetes and other non-polio enterovirus diseases by a novel vaccination regime based on extensive immunisations by currently available oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) and/or by new non-polio enterovirus vaccines.

The invention provides prevention of Type 1 diabetes mellitus and other non-polio enterovirus diseases by eliminating the risk effect of enterovirus infections. This is achieved by a novel immunisation regime, which is based on the induction of systemic and local mucosal Th1-type T-cell immunity by oral poliovirus vaccinations and optionally induction of Th2-type humoral immunity by a new enterovirus vaccine which induces neutralizing antibodies against appropriate enterovirus serotypes. These two regimes can be used separately or in combination.

More precisely the present invention relates to the use of oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) for the manufacture of a vaccine against non-polio enterovirus diseases, and especially against Type 1 diabetes mellitus. When OPV is used together with a vaccine, which induces serotype specific immunity against non-polio enteroviruses, harmful side effects of the non-polio enterovirus vaccine can be avoided. The invention thus provides a vaccine composition comprising said two vaccines.

"This granted patent opens Vactech a good bridgehead in the USA in terms of protecting our IPR on the preventive Type 1 Diabetes vaccine. However, the protection is not complete and it is to be strengthened with a divisional application which already has been filed", said Raimo Harju, CEO of Vactech.

About Vactech

Vactech develops and licenses vaccines and novel technologies for vaccines and diagnostics with a pipeline of early stage product candidates focused on Type 1 Diabetes, Celiac Disease, Asthma & Allergy and diagnostics.

Vactech’s flagship project is a patented enterovirus based preventive Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) vaccine, similar to the widely used enterovirus vaccine against polio. The vaccine is a traditional inactivated vaccine and it has been proved to be safe and effective in mice. In addition, Vactech’s IMAVAC™ product line uses Virus Like Particle (VLP) technology which is essential for other vaccines, immunomodulators and diagnostic applications.

Vactech is a privately owned company. We have a track record of collaboration with big pharma on the level of Good Laboratory Practice (GLP). We consider ourselves as an attractive investment target for those that believe in and want to grow with our mission.

For more information contact:

Please see the company's website at www.vactech.fi for additional information or contact:

Raimo Harju, CEO

• Prev