PORTLAND, Ore. and NEW YORK, April 4 /PRNewswire/ — Bioject Medical Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq: BJCT), the leading manufacturer of jet injection devices for needle-free drug delivery and the Animal Medical Center today announced the introduction of a DNA-based vaccine treatment for melanoma in animals.
Previous clinical studies in mice have indicated that the vaccine, when delivered with the Biojector(R) 2000 jet injector, elicits a statistically significant higher immune response than the vaccine delivered with needle and syringe. The DNA-based melanoma vaccine was developed by researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center under direction of Dr. Alan Houghton and Dr. Jedd Wolchok.
The treatment will be available exclusively at the Animal Medical Center, a leading companion animal veterinary hospital located in New York City.
“Melanoma is a very serious form of cancer in both humans and companion animals,” said Dr. Phil Bergman, Chief of Oncology at the Animal Medical Center. “Currently available treatment methods are not effective for all types of the disease. DNA-based therapeutic vaccines are among the most promising new treatments becoming available to combat cancer.”
“Through our research collaborations, Bioject has been focused on the delivery of DNA vaccines for some time,” said Jim O’Shea, Bioject’s chairman, president and CEO. “By improving the efficacy of DNA-based vaccines, our needle-free technology can add value to the efforts of researchers developing ways to combat deadly diseases like cancer.”
The Animal Medical Center is a non-profit veterinary hospital with a staff of 80 veterinarians specializing in more than 20 areas of surgery and medicine. Since 1910, when AMC was founded by the New York Women’s League for Animals, AMC has provided the highest quality medical services to companion animals. The AMC is dedicated to treating each one of over 60,000 patients seen each year with the personal care and attention a member of your family deserves.
Bioject Medical Technologies, Inc., located in Portland, Oregon, is an innovative developer and manufacturer of drug delivery systems. The Company’s advanced delivery system, the Biojector(R) 2000, injects medication without a needle. The Biojector(R) employs compressed gas as a power source to force medication at high speeds through a tiny orifice, penetrating the skin and delivering medication without use of a needle. Using needle-free technology to administer injections virtually eliminates the risk of contaminated needlestick injury and resulting blood-borne pathogen transmission, a major concern throughout the healthcare industry. The Biojector 2000 has received
the Seal of Acceptance from the Alliance of Children’s Hospitals, Inc.
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements concerning the ability of the company’s products to enhance delivery of DNA-based vaccines. Such forward looking-statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the company, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks,
uncertainties and other factors include, without limitation, the risk that research and development results will not show that the company’s products enhance delivery of DNA-based vaccines and uncertainties related to i.) the time required to complete research and development, ii.) obtaining necessary clinical data, and iii.) the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center’s continuing commitment to the project. Readers of this press release are referred to the company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended
March 31, 1999 for further discussion of factors which could affect future results.
Forward-looking statements are based on the estimates and opinions of management on the date the statements are made, and the Company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if conditions or management’s estimates or opinions should change.
CONTACT: Jim O’Shea, Chairman, President, & CEO, or Sam Nickerson, Investor Relations, both of Bioject Medical Technologies Inc., 503-639-7221, ext. 565; or Philip J. Bergman, BDM, MS, Ph.D, of Animal Medical Center, 212-838-8100, or philip.bergman@amcny.org; or Kristen Hammer of Noonan/Russo Communications, Inc., 212-696-4455, ext. 249, or news@noonanrusso.com, for Bioject Medical Technologies, Inc./Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/101750.html or fax, 800-758-5804, ext. 101750/Web site: http://www.bioject.com
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