Tuesday July 29 7:15 AM EDT
Company Press Release
Procept Receives Grant to Develop Tuberculosis Vaccine
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BW HealthWire)--July 29, 1997--Procept, Inc. (Nasdaq:PRCT) today announced that the
Company has been awarded a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Institutes of
Health to support research to develop novel vaccines for tuberculosis.
Tuberculosis affects 1.8 billion people worldwide and is the leading cause of death from any single infectious agent.
Mycobacterium tuberculosis has reemerged as a public health threat because drug resistant mycobacterial strains have
developed and because existing tuberculosis vaccines and therapies are either ineffective, inadequate and/or unsafe in certain
individuals With such a critical need and a significant market, the SBIR grant proposes to identify and develop an effective
tuberculosis vaccine utilizing the CD1 system of lipid antigen presentation.
The CD1 system, like the well-studied major histocompatibility complex (MHC) peptide-based system, involves cells which
utilize the CD1 molecules to present foreign antigens from infectious agents to stimulate T cells (a class of white blood cells).
The T cells then mount an immune response to the invading organism. The MHC system involves presentation of peptides
(small pieces of protein) from these organisms. The recently discovered CD1 system operates much like the MHC system in
stimulating T cells, but does so by presenting nonprotein lipid and glycolipid antigens that activate special T cell populations.
The discovery of the CD1 system was made by Dr. Michael Brenner, M.D., Chief of the Division of Rheumatology,
Immunology and Allergy, Director of Lymphocyte Biology Section, and Dr. Steven A. Porcelli and their colleagues at the
Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts who are collaborators on the SBIR tuberculosis vaccine project.
The Principle Investigator on the SBIR grant at Procept is Kenneth P. LeClair, Ph.D.
In January 1996, Procept and a select group of top-tier researchers and biotechnology executives joined to form VacTex
Corporation. VacTex was established to fund work at Procept and at the Brigham and Women's Hospital. ``We believe that
Dr. Brenner and his colleagues' groundbreaking research in immunology has presented us with an important new avenue to
address some of the most significant infectious diseases worldwide, including tuberculosis, malaria and salmonella,'' stated
Robert J. Carpenter, Chairman and CEO of VacTex. ``The combination of Procept, with its scientific expertise in the areas
of CD molecules and T-cell receptors, Dr. Brenner and colleagues at Brigham and Women's Hospital and the VacTex
scientific advisory board, will allow us to aggressively advance this research.''
VacTex Corporation, founded in 1996, is focused on the development of therapeutic and/or prophylactic vaccines to address
some of the most devastating infectious diseases worldwide. VacTex's research and development platform is based on the
discovery of a new family of molecules, known as the CD1 system of lipid antigen presentation, implicated in a broad range
of infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria and salmonella. The Company's initial research efforts will focus on
developing novel vaccine products to address tuberculosis.
The members of the VacTex Board of Directors include several Boston industry leaders representing the scientific and
medical investment communities, including: Robert J. Carpenter, President of Boston Medical Investors, Inc., a group of
seasoned biotechnology executives and prominent researchers that invest in the health care arena, Stanley C. Erck, President
and CEO of Procept, Inc., Hugh Reinhoff, M.D., Director at Abingworth Ltd., Stephen Schaubert, Partner at Bain &
Company, Henri A. Termeer, Chairman and CEO of Genzyme Corporation and George Whitesides, Ph.D., Mallinckrodt
Professor of Chemistry at Harvard University.
Procept, Inc. is engaged in the discovery and development of small molecule therapeutics for the prevention and treatment of
chronic and life-threatening immune system disorders. The Company's research is based upon its understanding of critical cell
receptors responsible for modulating immune responses. Procept is developing therapeutics for the treatment of arthritis,
diabetes, organ transplant rejection and infectious diseases, including AIDS and tuberculosis. Procept was founded in 1985
and is traded on the Nasdaq National Market System under the symbol PRCT.
Contact:
Procept, Inc.
Stanley C. Erck
(617) 491-1100
or
INFOCUS, Inc.
Karen M. Goldman (media)
(609) 683-9055 |
