euro adhoc: Intercell AG / other / Intercell Receives Milestone Payment From Merck & Co. Inc Triggered By Initiation Of Phase II Clinical Trial of Investigational Vaccine to Prevent S. aureus Infectio

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Disclosure announcement transmitted by euro adhoc. The issuer is responsible
for the content of this announcement.
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16.12.2007

Vienna (Austria), December 16th 2007 - Intercell AG (VSE: ICLL) today
announced progress in its collaboration with Merck & Co., Inc. to
develop a vaccine to prevent Staphylococcus aureus, (S. aureus),
infection. Merck has initiated a Phase II clinical trial designed to
evaluate the efficacy and safety of a single dose of the candidate
vaccine in patients undergoing elective surgery. The start of this
Phase II trial triggers a milestone payment of USD 4 million to
Intercell.

Gerd Zettlmeissel, CEO of Intercell, commented "We are extremely
pleased that Merck has started Phase II studies, using a S. aureus
vaccine discovered using our proprietary Antigen Identification
Platform (AIP®) technology. This serves as further validation of the
ability of our AIP® to deliver novel bacterial vaccine candidates."

The S. aureus vaccine candidate is based on a conserved protein
antigen discovered by Intercell and licensed to Merck & Co., Inc. in
2004 on an exclusive world wide basis. Merck is responsible for
clinical development, manufacturing and marketing. Intercell is
eligible to receive milestone payments and royalties on future net
sales. In Phase I clinical trials the S. aureus candidate vaccine was
shown to be immunogenic, safe and generally well tolerated.

Hospital Acquired Infections

Hospital acquired infections caused by bacteria are one of the major
causes of death and serious illness. Intercell has embarked on a
large scale, comprehensive and multi-target antigen identification
program to contribute to vaccine efforts in this field. Besides
Merck´s S. aureus vaccine, based on an antigen identified by
Intercell, Intercell is developing a vaccine against hospital
acquired infections caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa - a clinical
Phase II/III trial is expected to be initiated in 2008 - and has
ongoing pre-clinical programs for Enterococcus and Klebsiella vaccine
discovery.

About S. aureus

S. aureus is the most frequent cause of hospital acquired infections.
In addition to bloodstream infections with a mortality rate of up to
35%, infections of bone, heart and other inner organs are leading to
serious health complications, death and economic burden. Today,
approximately 50% of S. aureus strains isolated in hospitals
worldwide are resistant to multiple antibiotics, rendering
staphylococcal disease management increasingly difficult and
challenging. Hospital-acquired infections are one of the major causes
of death and serious illness worldwide, resulting in an annual burden
of more than USD 20 billion in the developed world. In the United
States alone, about two million patients become infected annually
while receiving health care in hospitals.

end of announcement euro adhoc
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ots Originaltext: Intercell AG
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

Further inquiry note:

Intercell AG

Lucia Malfent

Head of Corporate Communications

Campus Vienna Biocenter 2, A-1030 Vienna

P: +43-1-20620-303

Mail to: LMalfent@intercell.com

Branche: Biotechnology
ISIN: AT0000612601
WKN: A0D8HW
Börsen: Wiener Börse AG / official market


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