I hate to break it to anyone who owns VICL, but, w/ all objectivity, their "naked dna" therapy is nothing new... What's more, naked dna injected ANYWHERE in vivo will be eliminated from the body by the body's natural defense mechanisms within 48 hours... If there is any therapy using dna, it must be in the form of an "ex vivo" approach, whereby gene vectors are inserted within an autogenic or inert cell type through which they may express their product, in this case, IL-2, over the course of a prolonged time period... Only this continuous release system could have any effect on tumor growth...
Another point I would like to make is that the gene VICAL is using, IL-2, has been around for many years, as it is an obvious component of the natural immune system... Further, I am utterly UNIMPRESSED by VICAL's clinical results thus far : "naked therapy may show results in up to 20% of patients"... Drinking distilled water may also show positive results in 1 of 5 people, as may eating ground horse hooves... In short, statistically, their results are feeble at best... AND what the hell is "may" show results...
Finally, even in the event that the naked DNA is delivered to the tumor successfully and EVEN if the vector for IL-2 is expressed and EVEN if this produces a beneficent effect, if the IL-2 escapes the tumor, the unfortunate patient may experience a CATASTROPHIC non-specific, MAGNIFIED inflammatory response elsewhere in the body... Anyone hear of LUPUS, Granulomatous disease, etc... These autoimmune diseases are a direct result of a magnified immune (inflammatory) response...
In short, I would not buy VICL on rumors of new alliances w/ Merck... The technology is weak, the results are poor, the prospects are grim... Take my advice, stay out of VICL.
sincerely,
biodoctor
p.s. I'm not talking smack... I am an MD/PhD student w/ emphasis on gene directed cell therapy and tissue engineering. |
