Vical preclinical data

VICL and university collaborators demonstrated that intramuscular injection of a plasmid DNA vector results in gene expression that gives sustained physiological changes. As reported in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the vector, bearing the mouse gene for EPO, produced elevated levels of red blood cells lasting for at least 90 days after a single injection.

As little as 10 µg of the vector injected into SCID mice increased hematocrit levels from 48 percent prior to treatment to 64 percent 45 days after injection (p<0.006). Immunocompetent mice given a single injection of 300 µg had a five-fold increase in serum EPO levels and hematocrits of 79 percent at 45 days after injection (p<0.01). A dose-response also was evident with increasing amounts of injected DNA. Most of the vector remained near the site of injection. ...