Medicago in funding talks for U.S. vaccine plant

Medicago (TSX:MDG) has begun negotiating final terms and conditions with the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for a financing package to build a scalable plant to make plant-expressed, virus-like particles (VLP) vaccines.

Medicago submitted its proposal for the plant in March, 2010.  ”Our proposal being selected by DARPA for potential funding demonstrates our leadership position in the development of plant-based VLP vaccines, an alternative to the traditional method,” CEO Andy Sheldon said in a statement.

The company recently expressed the H1N1 VLP antigen from the influenza strain that caused the influenza outbreak within 14 days of receiving the DNA sequence, compared with six months by the traditional egg-based vaccine manufacturers.

“We are one of the few current technologies with the potential for a rapid response time in the event of a pandemic,” Mr. Sheldon added.