TUSTIN, Calif., April 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced the publication of data showing phosphatidylserine (PS)-targeting antibodies can block one of the key ways the AIDS virus gains entry into certain blood cells. The data were generated by scientists at Duke University as part of their ongoing AIDS vaccine research. The article titled “Anti-Phospholipid Human Monoclonal Antibodies Inhibit CCR5-Tropic HIV-1 and Induces Beta-Chemokines” is available online today and will be published in the April 12, 2010 edition of the Journal of Experimental Medicine. Peregrine’s PS-targeting antibodies are currently in clinical development for the treatment of cancer and HCV infections.
Investigators believe the finding has particular strategic importance because most HIV strains use the CCR5 receptor to gain entry into a cell. In addition, it is one of the earliest events in the process of infection, so being able to intervene at this juncture could potentially be clinically useful.
Barton Haynes, M.D., director of the Duke Human Vaccine Institute and senior author of the study commented, “These results indicate that targeting a host cell lipid such as PS as an anti-viral strategy is a promising concept of relevance to new therapeutic and possibly prophylactic innovations for HIV.”
“This publication is the latest in a series of presentations and publications that supports the potential of PS as a target in HIV infection and provides new insights into the unique mechanisms of action of our PS-targeting antibodies,” said Steven W. King, president and CEO of Peregrine. “While past studies have focused on the broad nature of the PS target, these new data reveal that some of these antibodies may also have highly specific effects.”
The study was supported by a Collaboration for AIDS Vaccine Discovery grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a Veterans Affairs Merit Review Award, an NIAID NIH grant, the Center for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Immunology as well as resources from the University of Alabama and the Birmingham Center for AIDS Research.
Peregrine’s PS-targeting antibodies have been shown to help clear infectious virus from the bloodstream and to induce antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity. PS is exposed on the outer membrane of cells infected with a wide range of viruses, including HIV, influenza, herpes simplex viruses, hemorrhagic fever viruses, cytomegalovirus, measles and members of the smallpox and rabies virus families. Because the PS target is host-derived rather than pathogen-derived, PS-targeting antibodies are expected to be less susceptible to the viral genomic mutations that lead to anti-viral drug resistance. Peregrine is the exclusive licensee of broad patents covering anti-viral applications of PS-targeting antibodies issued to the University of Texas System.
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