Vical to Update Herpes Simplex Vaccine Program at Keystone Conference

(GlobeNewswire via COMTEX) -- Vical Incorporated (VICL 2.26, +0.00, +0.01%) today announced that the company's Vice President of Clinical Development, Richard T. Kenney, M.D., is presenting preclinical results from the company's herpes simplex type 2 (HSV-2) vaccine program in a poster session Friday morning at the Keystone Symposium on Immunological Mechanisms of Vaccination (Seattle, October 27 -- November 1).

In Investigational Study, ZOSTAVAX®, Merck's Shingles Vaccine, Reduced Incidence of Shingles in Adults Ages 50 to 59 by Nearly 70

In a large clinical study of adults ages 50 to 59, ZOSTAVAX® (Zoster Vaccine Live), Merck's vaccine for the prevention of shingles (herpes zoster), reduced the incidence of shingles by nearly 70 percent (69.8) compared to placebo. These new data will be presented on Oct. 23 at the 48th Annual Meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Based on these results, earlier this year Merck filed a supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the use of ZOSTAVAX to prevent shingles in people 50 to 59 years of age.

Experimental genital herpes vaccine fails major clinical trial

An experimental vaccine designed to block genital transmission of herpes viruses from men to women has failed a major clinical trial aimed at obtaining manufacturing approval, researchers said Thursday. Because of the failure, the vaccine's manufacturer, GlaxoSmithKline, said it will abandon any further attempts to develop the vaccine, called Simplirix.