April 5, 2001--Corixa Corporation (Nasdaq:CRXA - news), a developer of immunotherapeutics, today announced it has decoded the genome of the major microbial agent involved in the development of human acne, Propionibacterium acnes (P. acnes).
Acne is the most commonly diagnosed skin disorder in the United States.
In 2000, Corixa contracted with Paris-based Genset SA to sequence the P. acnes genome. Subsequently, Genset has determined the precise order of approximately 2.8 million base pairs of the P. acnes genome. Corixa plans to use this information in conjunction with its proprietary antigen discovery technology to accelerate development of potential new acne treatments and vaccines.
To date, Corixa scientists have mapped and characterized over 150 P. acnes proteins. The Company has determined that more than 30 of these proteins are recognized as antigens by the immune systems of volunteers with a history of severe acne. The identification of multiple candidate antigens is an important first step in the design of a vaccine for acne. In addition to its use in vaccine development, Corixa believes that the genomic information can be used to identify targets for new anti-microbial drugs that may be less toxic and more effective than current acne drugs. A presentation of the company's approaches in these areas of investigation is being made today at the World Vaccine Congress in Montreal, Quebec, by Dr. David Persing, M.D., Ph.D., vice president at Corixa.
``We are extremely pleased with the progress of this project, which represents only one of several programs within our extensive discovery pipeline,'' said Steven Gillis, Ph.D., chairman and chief executive officer at Corixa. ``We believe that the combination of a proprietary genomic intellectual property position, Corixa's innovative antigen discovery approaches and proprietary adjuvant and delivery technologies provides us with a significant jump start toward the development of a potential vaccine for acne. We look forward to our continued progress on this program.'' ... |
