(Torrance, CA – April 22, 2004) – The UCLA Center for Vaccine Research, a leading research program at the Research and Education Institute (REI) at Harbor – UCLA Medical Center, announced today that it has initiated a Phase II trial of a new anthrax vaccine, rPA102 (VaxGen, Inc.). The 13-month trial is taking place at 12 medical centers in the United States and is one of two studies of rPA102 initiated this year under a multi-year, $80.3 million U.S. government contract to VaxGen, Inc. from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.
VaxGen, Inc. began developing rPA102 to address the need for an anthrax vaccine that has an improved safety profile and a more practical dosing schedule compared to the existing licensed anthrax vaccine. rPA is a synthetic protein vaccine that induces antibodies that are designed to prevent illness by neutralizing anthrax toxins. rPA102 cannot cause anthrax infection. The goal of this study is to determine the optimal formulation of the rPA vaccine that will provide an early and protective immune response.
Healthy adults, 18 to 55 years of age, who have not received an anthrax vaccine and have not been exposed to anthrax, are needed to participate in this study. Participants will need to be available for 14 visits to the clinic (Torrance) over a one-year period. Participants will be compensated up to $700 for completion of study visits.
For further information on how to take part in this trial, please call 1-800-637-8860.
The Research and Education Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center is one of the largest independent, not-for-profit biomedical research institutes in Los Angeles County. Affiliated with both the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, the Institute has an annual budget of over $65 million and currently supports more than 1,000 research studies in areas such as cardiology, emerging infections, cancer, women's health, reproductive health, vaccine research, respiratory physiology, neonatology, molecular biology, and genetics. REI also plays a pivotal role in the training of young physician-scientists and scientists–to–be and is active in promoting the health and well being of nearby communities through community service programs that meet a variety of important social and medical needs.