Biovest International, Inc. (OTCQB:BVTI) today announced that construction has been completed for its new personalized cancer vaccine manufacturing site in Minnesota. The new BiovaxID®-dedicated production suites are part of an expansion project within Biovest's 35,000 sq. ft. cell culture center in Coon Rapids, a suburb of Minneapolis, with funding provided by a public/private partnership with the State of Minnesota, the City of Coon Rapids and JMS Holdings, LLC. This new production space will accommodate manufacturing for Biovest's late-stage, autologous, active immunotherapy for the treatment of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. BiovaxID was developed in collaboration with the National Cancer Institute, and Biovest is currently preparing for meetings with U.S. and international regulatory agencies to discuss the next steps in seeking approvals for BiovaxID based on positive Phase III clinical trial results.

Commenting on this development, Biovest's President, Samuel S. Duffey, stated, "I congratulate our team in Coon Rapids for completing construction for the new dedicated BiovaxID manufacturing site within the timeline and budgetary goals we set. This is a key milestone as we are initiating the commissioning and validation processes with the facility currently undergoing comprehensive testing and review to ensure that the BiovaxID manufacturing 'clean rooms' are consistent with our standards of operational excellence and will satisfy the regulatory criteria of an FDA inspection. Furthermore, I expect we will be producing BiovaxID vaccines in this new facility sometime this summer."

Biovest also announced it is scheduled to present at the Active Immunotherapeutics Forum 2011 on Thursday, May 12th, being hosted at the Fira Palace in Barcelona, Spain. Dr. Carlos F. Santos, Biovest's Senior Vice President, Scientific Affairs, Product Development & Regulatory Affairs, will present a clinical case study on BiovaxID as part of the Forum's Plenary Session, titled, "Advancing Phase III Active Immunotherapy Programs: Just How Well Did the Pre-clinical and Early Clinical Trials Translate?" The Plenary Session is being chaired by Dr. David L. Urdal, Chief Scientific Officer for Dendreon Corporation, with other presenters representing Merck KGaA, the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut and the Cancer Research Institute. Dr. Santos will also participate in multiple group panel discussions in addition to his presentation as part of the Plenary Session.

Source:
Biovest International, Inc.