VaxGen's phase III trial in Thailand clears final scheduled safety review.

2002 DEC 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The independent board that oversees VaxGen, Inc.'s clinical trials completed the final safety and conduct review of the company's phase III trial in Thailand and once again concluded that the study was being conducted appropriately and that VaxGen's AIDS vaccine candidate appears safe, VaxGen (VXGN) announced.

VaxGen is conducting two phase III trials, one in Thailand and another in North America and Europe. The oversight board, or Data and Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB), completed its final safety review of the trial in North America and Europe in April 2002 and therefore focused solely on the trial in Thailand in its most recent evaluation.

In its seventh review of the Thai trial, the DSMB found that VaxGen's AIDS vaccine candidate, AIDSVAX B/E, continues to exhibit a very good safety profile. More than 32,000 injections of AIDSVAX have been administered since it entered human clinical trials. VaxGen is testing AIDSVAX B/B in North American and Europe.

Retention of volunteers in the Thai study remained above expectations. On an annualized basis, 96.7% of the volunteers in the trial continued to participate as of September 15, 2002.