BIOM news, stock already up -- but news NOT on Yahoo yet...
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Biomira Presents New Data at Biotechnology Industry Organization Meeting
13:45 EST Monday, March 27, 2000
Findings Show BLP25 Vaccine Stimulates Potent T-cell Responses in a High Proportion of Cancer Patients
BOSTON, March 27 /CNW/ - Biomira Inc. (Nasdaq: BIOM) (TSE: BRA) today presented data at a meeting of the Biotechnology Industry Organization in Boston suggesting that its synthetic cancer vaccine, BLP25 vaccine, is capable of inducing a potent immune response against MUC-1 cancer associated antigen in a high proportion of cancer patients. MUC-1 cancer associated antigen is expressed on over 90 percent of common human cancers.
"Most peptide antigens stimulate the T-cell response in only a subset (usually a minority) of people. The ability to induce a strong T-cell response against a peptide antigen in such a high proportion of patients is an unusual phenomenon, and we are extremely excited that BLP25 vaccine has performed so well," said Michael Longenecker, PhD, Senior Vice President, Research and Development.
Data from two BLP25 vaccine recent studies support these conclusions. One was an in vitro study using T-cells from normal human donors and a second was from a Phase II clinical trial. In the in vitro study, dendritic cells, the most potent antigen presenting cells, were incubated with BLP25 vaccine before incubation with donors' T-cells. Twelve out of 14 (86 percent) of normal donors were able to generate a strong primary T-cell response against MUC-1.
In the clinical trial, a Phase II study with BLP25 vaccine to determine whether a higher dose (1,000 mg) and more frequent administration would lead to an increased immune response, six out of eight evaluable non-small cell lung cancer patients experienced significant T-cell proliferative responses against the target antigen.
"Biomira has always stated that the MUC-1 cancer mucin, upon which our BLP25 vaccine is based, is expressed by over 90 percent of common cancers. We were extremely pleased to find that a high proportion of cancer patients are also responsive to our vaccine expressing MUC-1 peptide. This means that a successful BLP25 vaccine has the possibility of targeting a very large number of patients with common cancers - a potentially huge market," said Alex McPherson, MD, PhD, President and CEO of Biomira.
A second Phase II study with BLP25 vaccine is currently under way to examine the efficacy of adding the immune enhancer interleukin-2 to Biomira's vaccine formulation, while preserving a satisfactory safety profile.
The Biotechnology Industry Organization is a Washington, D.C.-based organization that engages in lobbying, advocacy, communications and new business development related to the biotech industry. Established in 1993, today it includes more than 850 member companies. |
