Taking Pandemic Flu Vaccine to Japan, Maybe
Vical Incorporated (NASDAQ: VICL) has signed a non-binding Letter of Intent with AnGes indicating the companies mutual interest to license the development and marketing rights for Vical’s pandemic influenza DNA vaccines in Japan to AnGes.
Both parties intend to negotiate terms and conditions (potentially) leading to a license, subject to completion of a mutually satisfactory definitive agreement.
Japan’s geographic proximity to many of the avian influenza outbreaks in recent years puts the country at high risk for future outbreaks. The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has offered estimates showing that the emergence of a new strain of influenza could lead to infections in 13 to 25 million people and and ultimately could lead to 170,000 to 640,000 deaths in Japan.
Vical shares are not trading up on this news at all as these often tend to be long-term pacts with little immediate impact on the company. Shares are dowmn 2.5% at $1.55 on thin volume after the open. Its 52-week trading range is $1.50 to $5.23.
Jon C. Ogg
October 7, 2008