Vical received a $1 million milestone payment from Merck & Co. based on Merck's planned initiation of a Phase I clinical trial of an investigational plasmid DNA (pDNA) cancer vaccine. The candidate vaccine is based on Vical's DNA gene delivery technology and encodes human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT).
"The breadth of applications for Vical's gene delivery technology continues to grow, and now encompasses vaccine candidates against infectious diseases and cancer, cancer immunotherapies, and gene-based angiogenesis for cardiovascular diseases," said Vijay B. Samant, Vical's president and CEO.