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Iomai Corporation Awarded Key Vaccine Technology Patent

Posted on: Tuesday, 13 June 2006, 09:01 CDT

GAITHERSBURG, Md., June 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Iomai Corporation announced today that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has awarded a new U.S. Patent "Adjuvant for transcutaneous immunization" (Number 7,037,499). The patent outlines methods for inducing an immune response to Iomai's novel skin-patch-based vaccines.

The patent's claims expand the coverage for the company's proprietary transcutaneous immunization (TCI) technology, a unique method of vaccine delivery with benefits including needle-free administration and the ability to deliver types of vaccines that are not viable by an intramuscular (IM) route. Iomai's TCI technology uses a patch applied to the skin like a bandage and worn for several hours to deliver vaccine and/or adjuvants to a group of antigen-presenting cells (called Langerhans cells) in the skin called that carry the vaccine to the nearby lymph nodes where they prompt a sustained immune response.

The TCI technology was initially developed by Iomai founder and chief scientific officer Dr. Gregory Glenn, M.D. when he made the observation while a researcher at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research that the skin is a highly attractive immune environment for vaccination. The Walter Reed Army Institute of Research has granted Iomai an exclusive worldwide license to the TCI technology.

"This patent confirms our position as the first company to design a patch-based system that administers vaccine to the skin -- a major competitive advantage," said Stanley C. Erck, President and Chief Executive Officer of Iomai. "This allows us to continue our efforts to develop the first-ever vaccine for traveler's diarrhea in the United States and a needle-free influenza vaccine patch that would be simpler to administer than injectable vaccines."

The patent was awarded to the U.S. government and lists Dr. Glenn as a co-inventor. With the new patent, Iomai now holds the exclusive license to four U.S. patents and 20 foreign patents, and has filed more than a dozen non-provisional patent applications in the United States and more than 30 foreign applications.

ABOUT IOMAI CORPORATION

Iomai Corporation discovers and develops vaccines and immune system stimulants, delivered via a novel, needle-free technology called transcutaneous immunization (TCI). TCI taps into the unique benefits of a major group of antigen-presenting cells found in the outer layers of the skin (Langerhans cells) to generate an enhanced immune response. Iomai is leveraging TCI to enhance the efficacy of existing vaccines, develop new vaccines that are viable only through transcutaneous administration and expand the global vaccine market. Iomai currently has four product candidates in development: three targeting influenza and pandemic flu and one to prevent E. coli-related travelers' diarrhea. For more information on Iomai, please visit http://www.iomai.com/.

Some matters discussed in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements" that involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements include statements about the breadth and scope of the patent coverage on the TCI technology, the competitive advantages of the TCI technology, Iomai 's ability to stimulate stronger immune responses, ease of application and tolerability of the dry patches and the estimated size of the travelers' diarrhea market. Applicable risks and uncertainties include, among others, that Iomai may fail to adequately protect its intellectual property or may be determined to infringe on the intellectual property of others; that results from clinical trials may not replicate results seen in previously disclosed clinical trials; that Iomai may not be able to enroll sufficient numbers of patients in future clinical trials; that Iomai may be unable to obtain the regulatory approvals necessary to conduct additional clinical trials or to market any product candidates for needle-free travelers' diarrhea and influenza vaccines; that development costs may exceed expectations; and the risks identified under the heading "Risk Factors: in the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the three months ended March 31, 2006 and its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2005, both of which have been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Iomai cautions investors and others not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. You are encouraged to read the Company's filings for a discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties, which are filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, available at http://www.sec.gov/.

These statements speak only as of the date of this document, and Iomai undertakes no obligation to update or revise the statements.

Iomai Corporation

CONTACT: Russell P. Wilson, Senior Vice President, Chief FinancialOfficer and General Counsel of Iomai Corporation, +1-301-556-4478, orinvestors@iomai.com; or Daryl Messinger of WeissComm Partners, Inc.,+1-415-999-2361, or daryl@weisscommpartners.com

Source: PRNewswire-FirstCall

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