-final study leading to full Canadian
license for the vaccine-
BELLEVILLE, ON,
May 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -
Bioniche Life Sciences Inc. (TSX: BNC) (ASX: BNC), a
research-based, technology-driven Canadian biopharmaceutical
company, today announced that the results of a controlled challenge
study with the Company's Escherichia coli (E. coli) O157
cattle vaccine -EconicheTM - have been published in this
month's issue of The Canadian Journal of Veterinary Research
(2011;75:98-105), a peer-reviewed scientific journal.
The article, entitled, "Vaccination with type
III secreted proteins leads to decreased shedding in calves after
experimental infection with Escherichia coli O157", was
co-authored by Kevin J. Allen,
Dragan Rogan, B. Brett Finlay, Andrew
A. Potter, David J. Asper.
This article summarized a controlled challenge study conducted in
early 2008 at the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization
(VIDO) - University of Saskatchewan
which was the final study that led to the full Canadian license for
EconicheTM from the Canadian Food
Inspection Agency (CFIA) in October, 2008.
The controlled challenge study at VIDO involved
30 placebo-treated cows and 30 vaccinated cows. The vaccinated cows
each received three doses of EconicheTM.
Both groups were then infected with E. coli O157 and fecal
shedding was monitored daily for a two-week period. These data
indicate that EconicheTM vaccination had
protective effects through significant reductions in both the
number of animals shedding and the number of challenge organisms
shed per animal. The authors of the article summarized the study by
saying it provides evidence that vaccination with
EconicheTM is an effective pre-harvest
intervention strategy against E. coli O157.
These data constitute part of the Company's
international regulatory dossier in such jurisdictions as
Australasia, Europe, Scandinavia,
and South America. The Company has
been actively exploring opportunities to introduce
EconicheTM to markets beyond North America, where it has a full license
(Canada) and a pending conditional
license (U.S.).
EconicheTM will be
manufactured in the Company's newly completed Animal Health and
Food Safety Vaccine Manufacturing Centre in Belleville, Ontario, currently undergoing
validation and commissioning. Full production in the new Centre is
expected to begin by the fall of 2011.
About the Bioniche E. coli
O157 Vaccine
(EconicheTM)
The Food Safety Division of Bioniche Life
Sciences Inc. has worked with Canadian university researchers, in
particular, inventor Dr. Brett
Finlay and his team at the University
of British Columbia, to develop and license a cattle vaccine
against E. coli O157. This vaccine - trademarked
EconicheTM - is meant to reduce the level
of the bacterium in water, food and the environment and, in turn,
reduce the potential infection of humans.
EconicheTM has the
potential to significantly reduce the amount of E. coli O157
shed into the environment by beef and dairy cattle. This organism
does not cause illness in cattle, but cattle are the primary
reservoir for it. Vaccination of cattle with
EconicheTM can help reduce the risk of
food and waterborne contamination with E. coli O157.
EconicheTM has been
developed by a strategic alliance formed in September, 2000 and
composed of the University of British
Columbia (UBC), the Alberta
Research Council (ARC), the University of
Saskatchewan's Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization
(VIDO), and Bioniche, which holds the rights for worldwide
commercialization of the vaccine.
More about E. coli
O157
The E. coli O157 organism causes no
disease in cattle, but cattle are the primary reservoir for it.
E. coli O157 can cause severe illness and can even be fatal
when ingested by humans from contaminated meat, vegetables, other
food products, or water. Human exposure and infection with E.
coli O157 can result in serious health consequences, including
abdominal pain and severe bloody diarrhea. In severe cases, kidney
damage can occur and progress to serious complications and even
death. Lingering, long-term medical conditions can persist in
individuals exposed to the bacterium. These include post-infectious
irritable bowel syndrome (PI-IBS), reduced kidney function,
diabetes, hypertension and reactive arthritis.
An estimated 100,000 cases of human infection
with the E. coli O157 organism are reported each year in
North America. Two to seven per
cent of those people develop haemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a
disease characterized by kidney failure. Five percent of HUS
patients die, many of them children and senior citizens, whose
kidneys are more sensitive to damage.
About Bioniche Life Sciences Inc.
Bioniche Life Sciences Inc. is a research-based,
technology-driven Canadian biopharmaceutical company focused on the
discovery, development, manufacturing, and marketing of proprietary
products for human and animal health markets worldwide. The
fully-integrated company employs more than 200 skilled personnel
and has three operating divisions: Human Health, Animal Health, and
Food Safety. The Company's primary goal is to develop proprietary
cancer therapies supported by revenues from marketed products in
human and animal health. For more information, please visit
www.Bioniche.com.
Except for historical information, this news
release may contain forward-looking statements that reflect the
Company's current expectation regarding future events. These
forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainties, which
may cause, but are not limited to, changing market conditions, the
successful and timely completion of clinical studies, the
establishment of corporate alliances, the impact of competitive
products and pricing, new product development, uncertainties
related to the regulatory approval process, and other risks
detailed from time to time in the Company's ongoing quarterly and
annual reporting.
SOURCE Bioniche Life Sciences Inc.