Vical discontinuing HSV-2 program after Phase II miss

Vical Inc. (NASDAQ:VICL) said it will discontinue development of VCL-HB01 after the HSV-2 vaccine missed the primary endpoint in a Phase II trial.

VCL-HB01 is a plasmid DNA vaccine that encodes the HSV-2 glycoprotein D and tegument protein VP11/12 (UL46) formulated with the Vaxfectin lipid adjuvant. The double-blind, U.S. trial enrolled 261 adults with symptomatic genital HSV-2 infection and a self-reported history of 4-9 recurrences per year to receive placebo or 1 mL intramuscular VCL-HB01 every 28 days for four doses...