Vaccine development

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California's Maxygen to work on AIDS vaccine

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A California company that aims to develop vaccines by

shuffling genes said Tuesday it was working to create an AIDS vaccine.

Maxygen Inc., based in Redwood City, California, said it was being helped in

the effort by the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), a nonprofit

group pressing for development of a vaccine to work against the deadly AIDS

virus.

IAVI will fund the development while the company keeps all rights to

commercialize any vaccine it comes up with, Maxygen said in a statement.

" In recognition of the great need for a vaccine against AIDS in the poorest

countries of the world where infection rates are soaring, Maxygen has granted

IAVI a royalty free license to develop and distribute HIV vaccines to those

who cannot afford them in developing countries, " the company said.

" A vaccine is the best hope for ending the AIDS epidemic, " IAVI President Dr.

Seth Berkley said in a statement.

" Collaborations with private industry working on the cutting edge of

biotechnology will be a critical factor in achieving our goal of developing

and distributing AIDS vaccines, " Berkley added.

Maxygen said it would use its trademark " MolecularBreeding " gene-shuffling

technology to try to make a vaccine that will prompt an effective immune

response to the virus.

Vaccines work by helping the body recognize and act against invaders, by

using antigens, which are the recognition part of the equation, and adjuvants

that help boost immune system cells.

The trouble with HIV is it attacks immune system cells. Efforts to create an

effective vaccine so far have failed and now researchers say they would be

happy with one that blunts the effects of the virus instead of stopping it.

The World Health Organization estimates that more than 36 million people

worldwide have HIV infection or AIDS. The disease killed 3 million people

last year, including 500,000 children.

" We have already shown in several examples that our proprietary

MolecularBreeding directed molecular evolution technologies can be used to

generate infectious disease antigens that elicit broader, stronger immune

responses than wild type antigens, " , chief executive officer

of Maxygen, said in a statement.

" We believe that application of these technologies to HIV vaccine development

may overcome key limitations that have so far hindered the successful

development of a safe, effective HIV vaccine. "

20:11 02-20-01