Check your salivary gland Bruce, the sale may be over - News:
(I've recently begun to wonder if Avigen's price has been kept low for a partnership stock offerring of a different sort - that we avgn holders will have our stock replaced with the new partner's stock where the number of shares we'll swap will be based on avgn's recent value - not past or future. Any comments? Tom)
Avigen Awarded Two Grants for Novel Gene Therapy Approaches to Treating HIV Infection
and Cancer
PR Newswire, Tuesday, September 02, 1997 at 08:20
New Anti-HIV Strategy Employs 'Trojan Horse' Approach to Destroying Virus
ALAMEDA, Calif., Sept. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Avigen, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGN) today
announced the receipt of two grants from the National Institutes of Health
(NIH) and the University of California (UC) aimed at advancing research on
novel gene therapy approaches to the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus
(HIV) infections and cancer.
The NIH Grant is a renewal of a National Cooperative Drug Discovery Grant
(NCDDG) supporting the development of a novel "Trojan horse" approach to
treating HIV infections called "Capsid Targeted Viral Inactivation" (CTVI).
In this approach, Avigen and its collaborators deliver to HIV-infected cells a
gene coding for a modified version of one of the HIV proteins. When the virus
replicates in a cell containing the new gene, it incorporates the modified
protein into its structure as if it were a normal viral protein. However,
once the assembled virus leaves the cell, the modified protein destroys the
virus from within. Work performed under the initial NCDDG award demonstrated
that this strategy can inhibit the replication of retroviruses related to HIV.
The renewed grant will help further research that applies the CTVI strategy to
HIV infection itself.
"While a number of approaches to treating HIV infection have emerged, none
are curative and still more innovative strategies are needed due to the virus'
ability to quickly mutate and adapt," said John Monahan, Ph.D., president and
chief executive officer of Avigen. "Thus, we are very pleased that the NIH
has acknowledged the unique therapeutic potential of our CTVI approach by
awarding this very competitive grant. We believe that CTVI technology may
eventually provide a valuable addition to the armamentarium against HIV."
Avigen holds an exclusive license to the CTVI antiviral technology from The
Johns Hopkins University.
The NIH NCDDG grant totals $2,343,814 over four years, with $328,939 going
to Avigen. Recipients of the grant include Avigen project director Gary
Kurtzman, M.D., along with Jef D. Boeke, Ph.D. at The Johns Hopkins
University, a member of Avigen's scientific advisory board who serves as the
grant's principal investigator, and Beatrice Hahn, M.D. at the University of
Alabama.
The UC grant, aimed at developing gene therapy approaches to cancer using
Avigen's adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector technology, was awarded as part
of the Biotechnology STAR Project. Work performed under the grant will focus
on developing and refining an AAV vector system for use in treating brain
tumors. This strategy involves the delivery of a gene to tumor cells which,
in the presence of a specific drug, becomes activated to destroy the targeted
cells. The grant provides matching funds of $68,166 over two years for
research in the UC San Francisco laboratory of Mark Israel, M.D., an Avigen
scientific advisory board member.
Avigen, Inc. is a biotechnology company involved in the development of
gene therapy products derived from adeno-associated virus for the treatment of
inherited and acquired diseases. The Company's proposed gene therapy products
are designed for in vivo administration to achieve the production of
therapeutic proteins within the body. Avigen is focusing its efforts on
developing products to deliver genes for the treatment of brain, liver and
prostate cancer, anemia, hemophilia, hyperlipidemia, metabolic storage
diseases and blood cell-related diseases including sickle cell anemia,
beta-thalassemia and HIV.
Except for the historical information contained herein, this news release
contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties,
including the Company's preclinical and clinical efforts, the anticipated
timing of regulatory filings and approvals, and other risks detailed from time
to time in documents filed by Avigen with the SEC, including the report on
Form 10-K for the year ended June 30, 1996 and the report on Form 10-Q for the
quarterly period ended March 31, 1997. Source Avigen, Inc.
SOURCE Avigen Inc.
-0- 09/02/97
/CONTACT: Thomas J. Paulson, Chief Financial Officer of Avigen, Inc.,
510-748-7150/ |
