MedImmune Begins Dosing of Nasally Delivered Vaccine for Childhood Viral Diseases

Viral Diseases MedImmune has begun dosing adult volunteers in a Phase I clinical trial with its respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine candidate.

The vaccine was developed using an attenuated parainfluenza virus Type-3 (PIV-3), which was previously evaluated in a Phase I clinical trial in infants and recently modified to induce immunity to RSV. Data from preclinical studies indicate that the vaccine protects against both RSV and PIV-3.

The Phase I clinical study is designed to evaluate the vaccine's safety, tolerability and immunogenicity. It is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, dose-escalation study in approximately 120 healthy men and women between the ages of 18 and 40 years. MedImmune filed an investigational new drug application with the FDA for the vaccine candidate in January 2005.