Generex Biotechnology Announces Co-Authorship of Publications With Johns Hopkins University and Stallergenes S.A.
9:09 AM EST January 22, 2008
WORCESTER, Mass., Jan. 22, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Generex Biotechnology Corporation (Nasdaq:GNBT) announced today the publication of two scientific abstracts arising from collaborations between the Company's Antigen Express immunotherapy subsidiary and Johns Hopkins University (www.jdu.edu) and Stallergenes S.A. (www.stallergenes.com). The focus of Antigen Express is on proprietary immunotherapeutic technologies that modulate the body's response to foreign and endogenous agents by modulating their interaction with CD4+ T helper cells.
The paper, co-authored with Johns Hopkins University, is titled "Short peptide sequences mimic HLA-DM functions" and is scheduled for publication in the peer-reviewed journal Molecular Immunology (and is currently available online at www.sciencedirect.com). The study confirms the mechanism of CD4+ T helper stimulation by Ii-Key sequences. Antigen Express has exploited this Ii-Key activity to generate immunogenic vaccine peptides targeting a variety of serious unmet medical needs. The study was co-authored by Dr. Minzhen Xu, Vice President of Biology at Antigen Express.
The second paper, co-authored with Stallergenes, is titled "Single cell assessment of allergen-specific T cell responses with MHC class II peptide tetramers: Methodological aspects" and is scheduled for publication (and is currently available online at www.karger.com/iaa) in Volume 146, Issue No. 2, 2008 of the peer-reviewed journal the International Archives of Allergy and Immunology. The study demonstrated that T helper cells that are activated to respond to specific allergens can be identified with high sensitivity ex vivo using Ii-Key hybrids. This is a similar strategy to that being employed by the Antigen Express to identify patients in the earliest stages of Type 1 diabetes. This study was co-authored by Drs. Robert Humphreys, the founder of Antigen Express, and Eric von Hofe, the President of Antigen Express. Stallergenes is a European biopharmaceutical company focused on the treatment by desensitization of allergy-related respiratory conditions.
Antigen Express has a number of peptide vaccines in development for infectious agents, oncology, and autoimmune indications that are based upon theist proprietary Ii-Key technology platform. The most advanced is an immunotherapeutic vaccine currently in Phase II clinical trials in patients with breast cancer. That peptide has been shown to be safe and well-tolerated in all patients. Immunological responses consistent with antigen-specific T helper cell stimulation have also been observed.
About Generex
Generex is engaged in the research, development, and commercialization of drug delivery systems and technologies. Generex has developed a proprietary platform technology for the delivery of drugs into the human body through the oral cavity (with no deposit in the lungs). The Company's proprietary liquid formulations allow drugs typically administered by injection to be absorbed into the body by the lining of the inner mouth using the Company's proprietary RapidMist device. The Company's flagship product, oral insulin (Generex Oral-lyn), which is available for sale in Ecuador for the treatment of patients with Type-1 and Type-2 diabetes and which was approved for sale in India in October 2007, is in various stages of clinical development around the world. Antigen Express is a wholly owned subsidiary of Generex. The core platform technologies of Antigen Express comprise immunotherapeutics for the treatment of malignant, infectious, allergic, and autoimmune diseases. For more information, visit the Generex website at www.generex.com or the Antigen Express website at www.antigenexpress.com.
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