Biovest International, Inc. (OTCBB:BVTI), a majority-owned subsidiary of
Accentia Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ABPI), today announced that
Biovest has been designated one of the charter members of the Joint U.S.–Norway
Cancer Research Program, a collaboration among leading pharmaceutical
and biotechnology companies and research organizations with the vision
of transforming world-class cancer diagnostics and treatments to improve
and extend the lives of cancer patients.
The Joint U.S.-Norway Cancer Research Program will focus its efforts and
pursue cancer research with both the National Cancer Institute and the
U.S. military healthcare system. It has been reported that medical
research officials at the Defense Department believe the U.S.-Norway
cancer research collaboration can leverage the current efforts of the
U.S. Navy Cancer Vaccine Program, based at the U.S. Naval Health
Research Center in San Diego, CA. The Center was established to develop
and deliver operational biomedical research solutions and to create
vaccines and other cancer related therapies for various types of cancer
including breast cancer, ovarian cancer, and colon cancer.
Biovest was cited for its current efforts to commercialize BiovaxID®,
a personalized biologic therapeutic cancer vaccine now completing Phase
3 clinical trials to treat non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and as the developer
and manufacturer of AutovaxID™, its patented
technology enabling cancer vaccines to be developed much more rapidly
and cost-effectively than current systems.
Commenting on Biovest’s role, Chairman and
CEO, Dr. Steven Arikian, stated, “We are
extremely proud to be one of the original members of this prestigious
alliance of innovators in the field of cancer research. As we are
advancing BiovaxID to potentially become the first ever anti-cancer
vaccine approved in the U.S. and/or Europe, we expect to be a key
contributor based on our level of expertise in the field of cancer
vaccine immunotherapy. Additionally, we are highly proficient in the
cost-efficient, commercial-scale manufacture of such personalized
vaccines through the use of our proprietary biomanufacturing system,
AutovaxID, which we envision will be utilized to produce many kinds of
drugs and vaccines targeting many types of cancers.”
Participants in the joint program are working with the staff of the U.S.
Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions and with the
Delta Regional Authority, an independent federal agency, to arrange
scientific presentations by U.S.
