Melbourne, Monday 12 July 2010: (ASX: BDM) BioDiem Ltd’s lead product, the Live Attenuated Influenza
Vaccine (LAIV) has been granted regulatory approval for marketing in India. “NasoVac” was launched this
week by the Indian vaccine company, the Serum Institute of India (“SII”).
This is the first approval for marketing of BioDiem’s LAIV outside of Russia and the CIS.
This comes as a result of SII’s licence for the development of an intranasal egg-based vaccine against the
H1N1 influenza strain (swine flu) under WHO’s Pandemic Flu program. BioDiem is eligible to receive
royalty payments on sales of this product in the private market.
BioDiem Ltd’s lead product, the Live Attenuated Influenza Vaccine (LAIV) was licensed to Nobilon
(subsequently part of Schering-Plough) in 2004 for certain rights to manufacture, market and sell the
intranasal influenza vaccine. In 2009 Schering-Plough and Merck merged.
BioDiem is aware that Merck has announced the proposed phase out of operations at a number of its R&D
sites and that one of these sites is the Nobilon facility at Boxmeer in the Netherlands, which is one of the
areas where work on BioDiem’s LAIV has been taking place. BioDiem has no further information at this
stage about any potential impact on the LAIV program. BioDiem will keep investors informed of
developments as they arise.
About BioDiem Ltd
BioDiem is an ASX-listed company, based in Melbourne, with an international focus on finding, adding
value to and commercialising world-class research for vaccines, infectious diseases and other therapeutic
areas. The company uses a cost-efficient approach to drug development through collaborations with
academic centres of excellence, contract research organizations and partnerships with international
pharmaceutical companies.
BioDiem’s leading product is the Live Attenuated Influenza Vaccine (LAIV) technology, a novel intranasal
vaccine being developed to prevent infection from endemic and pandemic influenza. The technology was licensed to BioDiem by the Institute of Experimental Medicine in St Petersburg. In 2004, BioDiem licensed
the LAIV technology to Nobilon International B.V. (now part of Merck & Co, Inc.). It is currently in Proof of
Concept (Phase II) stage clinical trials as part of its development for European registration. It has also been
launched in India as NasoVac for protection against H1N1 influenza.
For additional information, please visit www.biodiem.com
Contact information
COMPANY MEDIA & INVESTOR RELATIONS
Julie Phillips - Chief Executive Officer Fay Weston - Director
BioDiem Ltd Talk Biotech
Ph: +61 3 9613 4100 Ph: +61 2 4885 2662 or 0422 206036
Email: jphillips@biodiem.com Email: fayweston@talkbiotech.com.au