Bird Flu Hits U.S.; GenoMed Believes It Has Cure for the Human Disease
Monday February 9, 7:30 am ET
ST. LOUIS, Feb. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- GenoMed Inc. ("the Company" or "GenoMed") (National Quotation Bureau's Pink Sheets Symbol GMED) announced today that its treatment approach to viruses, which tones down the host's immune response rather than trying to kill the virus, should be effective against the bird flu.
In humans, some strains of bird flu kill by causing lung failure. At autopsy, the lungs of people who die of bird flu resemble those of people who have died from SARS or influenza A infection, two other lethal viruses in the news this past year.
The lung is invaded by immune cells called macrophages, and the lung's tiny air sacs get filled up with fluid. Relatively little virus is present. What kills people is therefore an overly exuberant immune response to an entirely new virus, not proliferation of the virus itself.
GenoMed has identified a very early step in the immune response which can be turned off safely and effectively using already existing drugs. The result is fast recovery from viral disease, in other words, a cure.
This approach has already produced prompt recovery from another frequently lethal viral disease, West Nile virus encephalitis. Seven out of eight patients (88%) with West Nile virus encephalitis were cured in an average of 24 hours this past September. This case series, although small, represents the best results so far against West Nile virus encephalitis. These results will be published in the Pharmacogenomics issue of Current Topics in Medicinal Chemistry, a well respected, peer-reviewed medical journal.
For an independent assessment of GenoMed's West Nile virus results, please see the recent article by Steve Mitchell, UPI Medical Correspondent, available at: washingtontimes.com
A safe, effective cure for a viral disease makes killing the reservoir for the virus unnecessary. So a cure for West Nile virus encephalitis makes it less critical to kill mosquitoes. If GenoMed's approach also cures bird flu, then there will be little reason to slaughter poultry. The same is true for the SARS virus and civet cats in China: a cure makes culling unnecessary.
GenoMed's "universal vaccine" against most viral diseases involves blocking angiotensin II, using drugs already known to be extremely safe since they have been used in hundreds of millions of patients worldwide since 1980.
Angiotensin II gets the immune response started and keeps it going. Angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE), the enzyme which produces angiotensin II, is expressed on macrophages when they become activated. All immune cells, including macrophages, contain receptors for angiotensin II.
Blocking angiotensin II production with a suitable ACE inhibitor, or the action of angiotensin II at its receptors with an angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB), should therefore tone down the host's immune response. GenoMed has seen this approach work for several autoimmune diseases over the past year and a half.
The patient's blood pressure guides whether an ACE inhibitor or an ARB is used. ARB's at low doses can tone down the immune system without lowering blood pressure at all.
Said Dr. David Moskowitz, GenoMed's Chief Medical Officer and CEO, "It is impossible to eradicate a virus's entire animal reservoir. We can't kill all the birds in the world. Nor is it ethical to quarantine populations for a transmissible virus like SARS when a cure may exist, as it now does. GenoMed's treatment approach lets us live with new viruses without having to devise a new vaccine against each new strain. This may be bad news for vaccine companies but wonderful news for public health."
Dr. Moskowitz continued, "Anyone can test our approach for themselves; the trial is completely free from our end. This message is especially important for people getting sicker rather than recovering as fast as expected from a flu-like illness."
Dr. Moskowitz concluded, "The Internet now makes it possible for anybody to enroll in our flu trial at any time of day or night anywhere in the world, simply by going to our website (www.genomedics.com) and clicking on 'Flu trial.' We'd like people to enter a working email address so that we can follow up with them. Then they'll be able to download an informed consent to discuss with their physician. The patient's own physician will prescribe the medication. A family member could easily do this for a child getting worse with the flu, for example."
The drugs GenoMed uses are safe enough to allow for their preventive use, and are available in every corner drug store around the world. Most general practitioners are quite comfortable using them to treat high blood pressure.
About GenoMed
GenoMed, Inc. is a Next Generation Disease Management(TM) company whose mission is to improve the public's health by identifying the molecular pathways that cause disease. A St. Louis Business Journal article (http://www.stlouis.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2002/05/13/story8.html) first reported that the company has applied for patents based on its finding that the ACE gene is associated with a large number of common diseases including virtually all autoimmune diseases.
For questions, please contact David W. Moskowitz MD, MA(Oxon.), FACP at 314-977-0115, FAX 314-977-0042, email: dwmoskowitz@genomedics.com, or visit GenoMed at www.genomedics.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward looking statements, including those statements pertaining to GenoMed, Inc.'s (the Company's) treatments. The words or phrases "ought to," "should," "could," "may," or similar expressions are intended to identify "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward looking statements as a result of a number of risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to: (a) whether GenoMed's approach will prove to be as effective in human cases of the avian flu, influenza A, and SARS as it already has been against West Nile virus encephalitis; (b) whether GenoMed's server will hold up to international demand; (c) whether we will have sufficient financing to conduct our research and development; and (d) our research and development being subject to other economic, regulatory, governmental, and technological factors. Statements made herein are as of the date of this press release and should not be relied upon as of any subsequent date. Unless otherwise required by applicable law, we specifically disclaim any obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect occurrences, developments, unanticipated events or circumstances after the date of such statement.
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