NewswireTODAY - /newswire/ - Santa Clara, CA, United States, 2005/08/04 - MDM Group, Inc. (OTC.PK: MDDM) advises that its Biodefense Division is finalizing agreements to develop a novel vaccine for smallpox designed for safe public immunization to counter bioterrorism..

Currently available smallpox vaccines use modified live vaccinia virus that are time intensive in their application. They are also not considered safe for use in certain segments of the population, especially those with skin diseases, immune disorders, HIV, and pregnant or lactating mothers. In addition, the FDA requires a "Black Box" (serious danger) warning on a large proportion of the currently available doses of smallpox vaccine due to concerns about occurrence of heart toxicity called acute myopericarditis in healthy individuals.

Smallpox is a top priority on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control bioterrorism threat list. Smallpox was declared eradicated in 1980 and the last outbreak in the U.S. was in 1949. Although the official repositories of the virus are maintained under high security in the United States and Russia, there is concern that terrorists may have access to smallpox virus that could be used as a bioweapon. If this happened, many people could become seriously ill as smallpox is highly contagious and virulent and as many as 30% of those infected could die as there is no known cure - if the hemorrhagic or flat smallpox variants were to be used the death rates could be as great as 95-99%.

MDM Vice President, Ed Stephen, stated that the new vaccine is expected to be safe in all population segments as well as be effective against all strains of pox viruses by the nature of the proprietary component selection process. He further advised that the Company expects to announce further details of the project and agreements during the course of the coming week.

MDM Group's Biodefense Division is focused on discovery of and rapid development of vaccines and other countermeasures to support the Homeland Defense requirements of the United States government and its citizens as well as those in other countries.

MDM Group's business interests are focused on the Security, Biodefense and Homeland Security industries.

Safe Harbor Statement

The information in this release, other than historical information, may be considered forward-looking statements within the provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Projection and other forward-looking statements and management expectations regarding future events and/or financial performance of the Company -- although given in good faith -- are inherently uncertain and actual events and/or results may differ materially.

SOURCE: MDM Group, Inc.

Agency / Source: ECON Corporate Services / InvestorIdeas.com™

Availability: All Regions (Including Int'l)

Traffic Booster: [/] Quick NewswireToday Visibility Checker

Distribution / Indexing: [+]