Immunotope, Inc. Hiring Two New Employees to Conduct Universal Flu Vaccine Research

(Doylestown, PA) - Today, Pennsylvania Congressman Patrick Murphy (D-8th District) announced that a Doylestown biotechnology company will receive a $598,000 research grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).  The company receiving the grant, Immunotope, Inc., was awarded the funding to develop a universal flu vaccine.  The goal of a universal flu vaccine is to provide protection against all seasonal flu and pandemic strains for years, or even a lifetime, with just a single injection.

“I’m proud that a Bucks County company is taking the lead in this important research and providing good, high-paying research jobs in our area,” said Murphy. “It’s clear from last year’s H1N1 pandemic that we need new and innovative vaccines to protect us from flu and other infectious disease.”

“Patrick Murphy’s interest and mentoring of biotechnology companies in Bucks County has helped small businesses like ours thrive,” said Ramila Philip, Ph.D., Immunotope President and Chief Scientific Officer. “This grant money will allow us to expand our research and hire two new employees to support the project.”

Dr. Philip explained that the universal synthetic vaccine would replace the current yearly flu vaccine and avoid the need to grow the flu virus each year in chicken eggs as current shots are made, increasing the safety of the vaccine. The funding will broaden the validation of their immunoproteomics platform and infectious disease vaccine discovery and development strategy.

About Influenza Virus
Influenza is a significant global health problem infecting up to 20% of the world’s population annually and causing up to 5,000,000 cases of severe illness and 250,000 to 500,000 deaths worldwide and in the U.S. alone, an estimated 20,000 to 40,000 deaths and nearly 300,000 hospitalizations are attributed to influenza infection.  With the recent appearance of new, severe and potentially recurrent seasonal disease, widespread vaccination campaigns that reduce the incidence of influenza-induced pneumonia are being encouraged by the World Health Organization.  Effectively reducing the incidence of influenza will require continued intense surveillance, increased use of currently available influenza vaccine, and availability of alternative vaccines and antiviral medications that can provide broader protection against shift-and-drift strains of influenza. Successful universal influenza vaccination campaigns can have enormous societal and economic impact.

About Immunotope, Inc.
Immunotope is a clinical stage biotechnology company developing immunotherapy products for the treatment of cancer and chronic viral infections. Immunotope focuses on the critical, unmet need to diagnose cancer at its earliest stages and to provide effective treatments that destroy tumors and prevent recurrence and metastasis. The company's initial product, the IMT-1012 multivalent therapeutic vaccine, has completed a Phase I clinical trial at the Duke University Comprehensive Cancer Center in advanced-stage ovarian and breast cancer patients.  IMT-1012 antigens are licensed by Immunovaccine Inc, Halifax, Canada and clinical trial continues as DPX-0907 in depovax formulation.  Immunotope is also developing autoantibody-based tests for early diagnosis of ovarian and prostate cancer.  Immunotope's viral immunotherapy program is centered on vaccines for the treatment and prevention of chronic hepatitis, Dengue Virus, influenza and HIV.

For further company information, see:  www.immunotope.com

For Immediate Release, July 14, 2010
Contacts:
Rep. Patrick Murphy
Sara Schaumburg
Tel: 202-225-4276


Immunotope
Ramila Philip, President
Tel: 215-253-4180
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it