Finally some good PR for the StatesOne of the reasons this stock has been held back is the lack of goods news releases in the U.S.. Canadians are never impressed by their manufacturers unless the Americans are enthralled by it first. The more press releases in the U.S., the better. It will be the Americans that will drive this stock up, not apathetic Canadians. That is what Medicago mgt must concentrate on. Just my opinion.
Wiz
Medicago holds official groundbreaking ceremony for its U.S. commercial grade vaccine facility
RALEIGH, NC and QUEBEC CITY, Oct. 1 /CNW/ - Medicago U.S.A.Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Medicago Inc. (TSX: MDG), abiotechnology company focused on developing highly effective andaffordable vaccines based on proprietary manufacturing technologies andVirus-Like Particles (VLPs), today announced that company executives,along with U.S. Senator Kay Hagan (D-NC) and U.S. Congressman DavidPrice (D-NC), are holding an official groundbreaking ceremony thismorning for its U.S. plant-based commercial grade vaccine facility inResearch Triangle Park, North Carolina. Medicago U.S.A. also announcedthe appointment of Mike Wanner as Vice President of U.S. Operations.
Withtoday's groundbreaking ceremony, Medicago U.S.A. officially commencedthe construction of its cGMP facility in Research Triangle Park (RTP),North Carolina. This VLP plant-based vaccine facility will include afully automated greenhouse and a state of the art extraction andpurification unit. The facility is targeted to produce 10 million dosesof pandemic influenza vaccine per month. On an annual basis, thefacility would have production capacity of 40 million doses of seasonalInfluenza vaccine or 120 million doses of pandemic influenza vaccine.
"Thanksto the efforts and experience of our partners Alexandria Real EstateEquities and BE&K Building Group as well as our employees atMedicago, we are confident that this fast-track project will bedelivered on time," said Andy Sheldon, President and CEO of Medicago."North Carolina and RTP is a great place to build our business due tothe excellent workforce, training programs and quality of life."
"Weare very pleased to be working with Alexandria Real Estate Equities andwith Medicago who is bringing this unique, rapid and cost-effectivevaccine technology to North Carolina and to the Research Triangle Park,"stated Joseph M. Raimondi, Project Executive of BE&K BuildingGroup.
Mr. Wanner joins Medicago U.S.A. as Vice President of U.S.Operations and will lead the Company's U.S. expansion efforts. He waspreviously President and CEO of Abeome, a biotechnology companydeveloping therapeutic and diagnostic monoclonal antibodies. Mr. Wannerserved for over 11 years as CFO for Merial and Rhone Merieux, Inc.(RMI), one of the world's leading animal health companies, where he wasinvolved in the construction and management of a large scale vaccineproduction facility in the U.S.
"Mike is a key addition to oursenior management team. He brings tremendous experience in the vaccineindustry and his hands on knowledge in the construction and managementof a large-scale U.S. vaccine production facility will have immediatebenefits in our U.S expansion efforts," stated Mr. Sheldon. "Thisexpansion is a key part of our development plan for both our pandemicand seasonal influenza products as we will now have a U.S. commercialfacility ready to participate in the $7B pandemic and seasonal influenzamarkets. Moreover, our U.S. facility will strengthen our relationshipswith key stakeholders in the U.S. and will provide us with enhancedaccess to the various grant programs for additional funding awards."
Members of the media are invited to attend the official ground breaking ceremony
When: Friday, October 1st at 10:00am
Where: 7 Triangle Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
About Medicago
Medicagois committed to providing highly effective and affordable vaccinesbased on proprietary Virus-Like Particle (VLP) and manufacturingtechnologies. Medicago is developing VLP vaccines to protect againstpandemic and seasonal influenza using a transient expression systemwhich produces recombinant vaccine antigens in non-transgenic plants.Their lead vaccine candidate, H5N1, has successfully completed a PIclinical trial and will be entering a PII clinical trial in 2010.Medicago's technology has potential to offer advantages of speed andcost over competitive technologies. It could deliver a vaccine fortesting in about a month after the identification and reception ofgenetic sequences from a pandemic strain. This production time frame hasthe potential to allow vaccination of the population before the firstwave of a pandemic strikes and to supply large volumes of vaccineantigens to the world market. Additional information about Medicago isavailable at www.medicago.com.