Friday June 1, 10:35 am Eastern Time
Immune Response's HIV Therapy Off Target
CARLSBAD, Calif. (Reuters) - Immune Response Corp. (NasdaqNM:IMNR - news) said on Friday a treatment it is developing to combat the human immunodeficiency virus, which causes AIDS, did not meet the targets of a mid-stage clinical trial in Spain.
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The news sent shares of Immune Response plummeting $2.94, or more than 60 percent, to $1.94 in morning trade on Nasdaq.
The company said in a statement patients given the therapy, Remune, which uses a dead HIV virus in an effort to stimulate an immune-system response in patients who are HIV positive, demonstrated no significant difference from the control group.
``This is a major disappointment as Remune was the company's major potential driver of growth,'' said Darren Mac, biotechnology analyst with Gruntal & Co.
The company said, however, that an intermediary stage of clinical trials, known as Phase II, identified a subgroup of patients with stronger immune systems in whom Remune may have had a positive effect on viral load. The Data Safety Monitoring Board, an independent group that evaluated the trial results, recommended further studies with Remune in such patients.
The company has about a year's worth of cash and had put early stage clinical trials for arthritis and multiple sclerosis treatments on hold to focus on Remune, Mac told Reuters.
``With all of that I couldn't recommend investors buying in,'' he said.
Remune, an HIV-specific immune-based therapy, is a special preparation of modified, killed HIV designed to stimulate the body's infection-fighting T cells to produce an immune response to HIV-specific antigen. The company hoped this enhanced immune response will help to control infection and consequently slow the progression to AIDS. |
