FluGen, Inc. is a privately held biotechnology company founded in 2005 and based in Madison, WI. The company has been developing novel influenza vaccine technology first invented at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, in the laboratories of Dr. Yoshihiro Kawaoka and Dr. Gabriele Neumann, and exclusively licensed to FluGen by WARF. The REDEE FLU influenza vaccine contains mutations in the M2 gene of the virus. The mutated virus can infect cells, express the entire spectrum of influenza RNA and proteins, yet fails to produce any infectious virus particles. Thus, the vaccine does not shed infectious virus and does not cause any pathological signs of infection. In multiple animal models, REDEE FLU is safe yet induces robust innate, antibody and cellular immune responses that can protect against 'drifted' or even mismatched influenza strains. The Company is developing REDEE FLU to address two unmet needs in the prevention of human influenza: better protection against influenza in the elderly and better protection against drifted influenza strains that can cause influenza epidemics.

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