ROCKVILLE, Md., Aug. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- A team of scientists led by Dr. Stephen L. Hoffman of Protein Potential LLC and Dr. Thomas Luke of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, United States Navy report a potentially effective approach to treating pandemic avian influenza. The article, “Convalescent Blood Products for Spanish Influenza Pneumonia: A Future H5N1 Treatment?” will be published in the October 17, 2006, print edition of Annals of Internal Medicine and is currently available at http://www.annals.org/cgi/content/full/0000605-200610170-00139v1. The scientific team analyzed clinical data generated during the 1918-1920 Spanish influenza pandemic, indicating that treatment of patients with hyper-immune blood, plasma or serum from recovered Spanish influenza patients reduced mortality in seriously ill patients by more than 50%. Based on these findings, and the fact that large quantities of plasma can be easily obtained and processed in many hospitals world-wide, including community hospitals, they propose studies to determine if treatment of patients with pandemic influenza with plasma containing anti-H5N1 antibodies from recovered patients could lead to a similar reduction in mortality.
“During the last 1-2 years patients with avian influenza in parts of Southeast Asia have had mortality rates of 50-75%, demonstrating the urgent need for an effective treatment. Given the high mortality rates of avian influenza, we believe that treatment with hyper-immune plasma must be evaluated,” said Dr. Hoffman, Chairman of Protein Potential LLC.
Protein Potential’s Research and Development group focuses on vaccines and other immunological interventions to prevent and treat disease. In addition to its work on avian influenza, it has internal programs to produce vaccines for Plasmodium vivax malaria, Plasmodium falciparum malaria, SARS, dengue fever, tularemia, and plague. “Developing such an important therapeutic is consistent with Protein Potential’s mission and capabilities,” said Dr. Kim Lee Sim, President of Protein Potential.
Protein Potential’s Products and Services group provides pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, and government and academic institutions with high quality, recombinant proteins and DNA plasmids. Protein Potential also provides process development, documentation, and technological know-how to transition therapeutic proteins, whole organism and subunit vaccines, and diagnostic proteins to large scale manufacture under cGMP conditions; manufactures under cGMP and develops and conducts validated assays required to release vaccines for clinical use and assess their immunogenicity in humans. For more information see http://www.proteinpotential.com.
Certain statements in this press release may be forward-looking. These are identified by the use of the words and phrases “intended,” “propose,” “could” and the like, and are based on Protein Potential LLC’s current expectations.
CONTACT: Merissa Henry of Protein Potential LLC, phone: +1-301-770-3222, fax: +1-301-770-5554, e-mail: mhenry@protpot.com
Protein Potential LLC
CONTACT: Merissa Henry of Protein Potential LLC, phone: +1-301-770-3222,fax: +1-301-770-5554, e-mail: mhenry@protpot.com
Web site: http://www.proteinpotential.com//
