Coridon hits dosing milestone in herpes trial

Allied Healthcare (ASX:AHZ) subsidiary Coridon has reached a dosing milestone in its phase I trial of a vaccine for Herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV-2).

All 20 subjects involved in the trial have now been given two of the three doses of the vaccine that they will receive during the trial, and the third doses are now being administered.

Allied Healthcare group CEO Lee Rodne said the trial was on schedule and no safety issues have been reported to date.

“We anticipate the results of this trial will provide us with very important safety data, as well as the first indication of the vaccine’s protective and therapeutic effect in humans,” he said.

The primary focus of the trial is safety, but all patients were screened to exclude previous exposure to HSV-2 - the main cause of genital herpes - and HSV-1, which causes cold sores.

Rodne explained that the company expects the trial results to provide an early indicator of the vaccine’s ability to generate an effective immune response.

“We hope to see this technology’s ability to stimulate the immune system and therefore have the potential to produce a treatment for herpes, as well as being a platform to develop potential treatments for a broad range of viral, bacterial and cancer-related diseases.”

The herpes vaccine was developed by immunologist professor Ian Frazer and his team at Coridon. It has generated some impressive results in preclinical trials.

Allied Healthcare has been progressively increasing its stake in Coridon as the vaccine progresses through development. In July, Allied brought its stake up to a majority 50.1%.

Allied Healthcare (ASX:AHZ) shares were trading 4.76% higher at $0.11 as of around 1.30 pm on Thursday.