Bill Gates Visited Intercell To Discuss Vaccine Approaches For Developing Countries

Main Category: Immune System / Vaccines
Also Included In: Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses
Article Date: 21 Jul 2010 - 9:00 PDT

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Intercell AG (VSE: ICLL) is pleased to announce that Bill Gates, Co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation today has visited Intercell's headquarter in Vienna for a close look at the Company's product pipeline and innovative vaccine technologies to fight infectious diseases. By developing innovative vaccines, Intercell makes an active contribution to people's health.

Bill and Melinda Gates recently committed USD 10 billion over the next 10 years to help research, develop and deliver vaccines for the world's poorest countries. The foundation is convinced that vaccines are one of the most effective health interventions ever developed. The goal of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is to increase the use of effective but underused vaccines and introduce new vaccines to prevent a total of 4 million deaths per year.

Getting cost-effective vaccines to the people in developing countries who need them is complicated and a significant challenge for the vaccine industry. Intercell is aware of this challenge and develops vaccines with substantial medical needs. The company already works with international organizations dedicated to combating illness in developing countries, like PATH (Pneumococcus vaccines candidate) and AERAS Global Tuberculosis Foundation (Tuberculosis vaccine). Moreover, the Company's first product against Japanese Encephalitis and its Travelers' Diarrhea vaccine candidate can bring innovation to all geographic areas. Intercell's vaccine patch technology with its ease of administration and the potential room-temperature stability, is expected to also increase accessibility to vaccines among the world's poorest populations.

During his stay in Vienna, Bill Gates and Intercell's Management team discussed also potential ways of future cooperation to develop novel and innovative vaccines for the developing world.

"It was a big honor of having Bill Gates visit and stay with us. Partnerships focused on reducing infectious diseases can save millions of lives and are also helping to build a stronger foundation for the development and distribution of vaccines. As a vaccine company, Intercell is committed to improve the health of all people and contributes to support significant and lasting change," stated Gerd Zettlmeissl, CEO of Intercell.

Source:
Intercell AG

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