ID Biomedical Says Vaccine Data Positive
01.13.2005, 02:57 PM

Canadian drug maker ID Biomedical Corp. said Thursday that a final analysis of data from a trial of its inhaled flu vaccine confirmed preliminary findings that FluINsure prevented symptoms of influenza in patients.

Shares of the Vancouver, British Columbia, company rose 69 cents, or 4.6 percent, to $15.64 in afternoon trading on the Nasdaq.

The company said the 1,349-patient trial, carried out at 28 Canadian sites, showed good results for both one- and two-dose regimens and showed no statistically significant safety issues.

ID Biomedical already sells a traditional injected flu vaccine, Fluviral, in Canada. The company said it plans to begin its first pediatric clinical studies of FluINsure in the United States toward the end of 2005.

MedImmune Inc. makes the only inhaled flu vaccine currently sold in the United States. The company's FluMist is different from ID Biomedical's proposed product and most traditional flu vaccines because it contains a weakened form of a live virus.