Vical Inc. announced that it has received a notice of allowancefrom the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for a patentcovering the company's lipid-based gene delivery technology.

The patent covers several classes of "cytofectins," proprietarylipids for delivering functional genes to tissues.

The San Diego company filed for an initial public offering inJanuary.

It is developing proprietary technology for the effectiveadministration of polynucleotide and gene based drug productsto treat and prevent infectious and cardiovascular diseases,autoimmune disorders and cancer.

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