Monday September 18, 7:04 am Eastern Time
Press Release
ICAAC Abstract Reports Therapy With Antibody To PcrV Effective Against Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Pneumonia
BURLINGAME, Calif.--(BW HealthWire)--Sept. 18, 2000--A team of researchers investigating the therapeutic effects of antibodies to the PcrV protein (anti-PcrV) in a mouse model of Pseudomonas aeruginosa induced pneumonia announced encouraging results yesterday at the 40th Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC).
InterMune Pharmaceuticals is currently working with Dr. T. Sawa and his team of researchers at the University of California, San Francisco and investigators at the Medical College of Wisconsin to generate a human monoclonal antibody directed against the PcrV protein. This antibody would treat Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection and prevent infection in high-risk patients.
At the conference, Dr. Sawa presented data from an abstract entitled ``Therapeutic Effects of Anti-PcrV IgG on P. aeruginosa Pneumonia in a Mouse Model'' showing that administration of a single dose of anti-PcrV up to four hours after intratracheal instillation of a lethal dose of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (an animal model of bacterial pneumonia) resulted in a marked improvement in survival. Only 20% of mice injected with 100 mg of control antibody four hours after instillation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa survived, whereas 100% of mice injected with 50 or 100 mg of anti-PcrV four hours after instillation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa survived.
Dr. Wiener-Kronish, senior author of the abstract stated, ``These data confirm and extend the findings we have already published showing that anti-PcrV can prevent infection with Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The present findings show that anti-PcrV may also have a role in the treatment of Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection.''
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a bacterial infection that often affects patients using respirators and catheters as well as patients with a number of conditions, including ventilator-associated pneumonia, burns, low white blood cell counts and cystic fibrosis. Because the types of patients at risk generally have pre-existing illnesses, Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection most often occurs in a hospital setting.
InterMune Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a biotechnology company dedicated to the development and commercialization of innovative products for the treatment of serious pulmonary, infectious and congenital diseases. InterMune currently markets ACTIMMUNE® (Interferon gamma-1b) Injection in the United States for the treatment of chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) and severe, malignant osteopetrosis. For more information about InterMune and ACTIMMUNE®, please visit InterMune's web sites at www.intermune.com and www.actimmune.com, or send e-mail to ir@intermune.com. |
