Genocea to Present at the 8th International Symposium on Pneumococci and Pneumococcal Diseases

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Genocea Biosciences, Inc. today announced that Jessica Flechtner, Ph.D., Vice President of Research, will present a poster entitled “Novel Pneumococcal Antigens Identified Through Proteomic Screens Using Th17 Cells From Humans Protect Mice Against Nasopharyngeal Carriage” at the 8th International Symposium on Pneumococci and Pneumococcal Diseases (Iguaçu Falls, Brazil, March 11-15, 2012).

Genocea, through its previously announced collaboration with PATH and Children’s Hospital, Boston, is pursuing a protein subunit vaccine to address Pneumococcus. This is a fundamentally different approach than existing Pneumococcal vaccines, and may represent a more comprehensive and cost-effective approach to addressing Pneumococcal diseases.

About Pneumococcus

Streptococcus pneumoniae, also known as Pneumococcus, is the leading cause of death worldwide for children less than the age of five. It is estimated that more than 150 million episodes of pneumonia occur every year among children less than five in developing countries, accounting for more than 95 per cent of all new cases worldwide. Between 11 million and 20 million children with pneumonia will require hospitalization and more than 2 million will die from the disease. Of these, 1.2 million are estimated to be caused by the Pneumococcus. This bacterium can also cause meningitis (brain infection and inflammation), acute otitis media (middle ear infections that can lead to a child becoming deaf), blood stream infections (bacteremia), and sinus infections.

About Genocea

Genocea is developing a new class of human vaccines based on a revolutionary platform for the rapid discovery of antigens that induce T cell immunity. The platform, which dramatically reduces vaccine discovery cost and risk, started from a proprietary, high-throughput technology licensed from University of California, Berkeley, and Harvard University. Genocea has demonstrated preclinical proof-of-concept with vaccines for herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2), Pneumococcus, and Chlamydia trachomatis, infections that affect hundreds of millions of people worldwide.



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Genocea Biosciences
Chip Clark, +1-617-876-8191
President and CEO

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