NIAID Awards New Grant to Expand Studies of Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc.'s Anti-PS Antibodies to Treat Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers

TUSTIN, Calif., Aug. 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has awarded a two-year, $763,000 grant to Philip Thorpe, Ph.D., of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center for research expanding its studies of anti-phosphatidylserine (anti-PS) antibodies as potential treatments for viral hemorrhagic fever (VHF) infections. Anti-PS antibodies work through a unique mechanism that allows the body's own immune system to recognize and attack virus infections. Previously published preclinical data and ongoing research support the potential of anti-PS antibodies for the treatment of VHF infections. The objective of the newly funded research is to evaluate a panel of new fully human anti-PS antibodies with different binding and functional properties as potential second-generation treatments.

"PS is a highly specific, host-derived target that becomes exposed on cells when they are infected by a broad variety of viruses," said Dr. Thorpe, professor of pharmacology at UT Southwestern. "As a result, anti-viral approaches targeting PS have potential as broad-spectrum agents effective against a range of viral infections, including VHF and other emerging virus pathogens. This grant from NIAID will enable us to conduct studies in VHF models to assess the anti-viral potential of a panel of fully human anti-PS antibodies. We expect the results will be useful for the development of anti-PS therapies for viral hemorrhagic fevers and also will enhance our basic understanding of anti-PS mechanisms in the treatment of virus infections."

"The research we are conducting under our TMTI contract to assess bavituximab and an equivalent human antibody against VHF infections is already generating promising results, and Dr. Thorpe's work under this new NIAID grant dovetails very nicely with that research," said Steven W. King, president and CEO of Peregrine. "The NIAID grant will allow our research collaborators to expand our existing VHF research to the evaluation of new PS-targeting antibodies that could extend the potential of our anti-PS platform. We expect it will result in greater understanding of the anti-viral mechanisms of our anti-PS technology platform that should be valuable for the development of new therapies against VHF as well as other serious viral infections."

The fully human anti-PS antibodies being used in Dr. Thorpe's NIAID research were developed by Affitech A/S in collaboration with Peregrine.

About Peregrine Pharmaceuticals

Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company with a portfolio of innovative monoclonal antibodies in clinical trials for the treatment of cancer and serious viral infections. The company is pursuing three separate clinical programs in cancer and hepatitis C virus infection with its lead product candidates bavituximab and Cotara((R)). Peregrine also has in-house manufacturing capabilities through its wholly owned subsidiary Avid Bioservices, Inc. (www.avidbio.com), which provides development and biomanufacturing services for both Peregrine and outside customers. Additional information about Peregrine can be found at www.peregrineinc.com.

Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc.