Altor BioScience Corporation Introduces STAR(TM) Multimer Reagents To Measure Disease-Specific Antigen Presentation

MIRAMAR, Fla., March 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Altor BioScience Corporation today announced the introduction of first-in-class Soluble T-cell Antigen Receptor (STAR(TM)) Multimer reagents that enable accurate measurement of tumor and viral peptide antigen presentation on diseased cells and tissues.

The new products based on Altor's proprietary technologies comprise soluble recombinant T-cell receptors that recognize different peptide epitopes of the oncogenic protein p53 and the cytomegalovirus (CMV) pp65 polypeptide in the context of HLA-A2.1. The p53-specific STAR(TM) Multimers can be used as research tools to validate, quantify or monitor the display of p53 peptide/HLA-A2.1 complexes on antigen presenting cells, tumor cells and tissues. Since half of all tumors overexpress p53, these reagents will enable investigators to better understand and develop new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for a broad range of cancers. CMV pp65-specific STAR(TM) Multimers can be used by researchers to examine changes in antigen presentation occurring during acute and chronic viral infection. STAR(TM) Multimers are available in reagent and kit formats for use in standard flow cytometry and immunohistochemistry methods.

Hing Wong, Ph.D., CEO of Altor, commented, "We are very pleased to be able to offer these break-through products to the research community. We believe that our current STAR Multimers have the potential to advance drug and vaccine development, as well as to contribute to basic and clinical research in a number of important medical conditions. Our intention is to rapidly expand our reagent portfolio to cover multiple epitopes derived from other human tumor antigens and viruses such as HIV and HCV."

Dr. Wong and his team have published an article in the March 1, 2006 issue of Journal of Immunology describing the exquisite sensitivity and specificity of p53-specific STAR(TM) Multimers. The study also demonstrated use of these reagents in simple staining procedures to differentiate human tumors from normal tissues. Altor intends to employ STAR(TM) Multimers to identify patients likely to benefit from its TCR-based targeted approaches for treating cancer. Altor's lead drug candidate is expected to enter clinical development later this year.

About Altor BioScience

Altor BioScience Corporation is a product-oriented biotechnology company engaged in research and development of novel diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for cancer, viral infections and autoimmune diseases. Altor's most advanced products include TCR-based therapeutics targeting a variety of different cancers. For more information, visit http://www.altorbioscience.com .

Altor BioScience Corporation

CONTACT: Peter Rhode, Ph.D., Altor BioScience Corp., +1-954-443-8600, orpeterrhode@altorbioscience.com

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