Jack, here's more. Looks interesting long term, but who knows!!!
<Picture: PR Newswire>
<Picture: [IBM DB2]>
[ Yahoo | Write Us | Search | Headlines | Info ]
[ Business - Company - Industry - Finance - PR News - Business Wire - Quotes ]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thursday December 19 11:41 AM EDT
LIDAK Pharmaceuticals Develops Novel Drug Discovery Approach For Controlling Allergies and Asthma
LA JOLLA, Calif., Dec. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Lidak Pharmaceuticals announced that Company scientists have developed a rapid method to identify novel drugs for the treatment of allergic diseases and asthma. LIDAK's method is based on manipulating a naturally occurring regulator of the IgE antibody that causes allergies.
Scientists at LIDAK and Medical Biology Institute, with which the Company has an exclusive technology license agreement, discovered the importance of a protein molecule produced by many lymphocytes in controlling the production of IgE antibodies. The protein, known as CD23, is an IgE-binding molecule on the surface of B lymphocytes and macrophages. LIDAK and Medical Biology Institute scientists showed that inactivating the CD23 gene in mice allowed those mice to produce ten times more than the normal amount of IgE in response to allergens, thus illustrating that the presence of CD23 is important for properly controlling the production of IgE antibody. This was later confirmed by other scientists who genetically engineered mice to produce excess CD23. Such mice produced abnormally low levels of IgE in response to allergens. Hence, increasing the activity of CD23 reduces the production of IgE, thereby diminishing allergic responses.
Using this principle, the Company has developed unique rapid screening assays for identifying new drug candidates which selectively increase the expression and production of CD23 within the body thereby diminishing the production of IgE. Such new drugs have the potential to reverse the primary cause of allergic diseases and asthma, rather than just temporarily alleviating the symptoms.
Allergies and asthma are debilitating diseases that afflict 20 percent of the population in industrialized countries, and the incidence is increasing. The cause of these diseases is IgE, an antibody that allergic individuals inadvertently make in response to a variety of innocuous substances such as pollen, animal fur, and foods, collectively termed "allergens." The common feature that distinguishes allergic individuals from others is their abnormally high level of IgE. There is currently no reliable cure for allergy and no approved treatment that corrects the overproduction of IgE. Existing treatments are aimed at symptomatic relief and often are only marginally effective and/or have undesirable side effects.
LIDAK has developed a unique combination of molecular, cellular, and pre- clinical in vivo assays which enable the Company to rapidly screen compounds for the desired effect on both CD23 activity and IgE production. These procedures are being used to identify novel drugs that will correct the underlying cause of allergic diseases and asthma. LIDAK is using a two- pronged approach to this goal. First, the Company is applying its proprietary gene sequence analysis technology, termed INDEL(2), to identify peptides that correspond to the active sites on CD23; and second, LIDAK is screening its small molecule chemical libraries for lead compounds that will be developed as proprietary new drugs.
LIDAK Pharmaceuticals is developing therapeutic products against virally caused diseases, inflammatory disorders, allergic diseases and asthma, and cancer.
The information contained in this press release, including any forward looking statements contained herein, should be reviewed in conjunction with the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K and other publicly available information regarding the Company, copies of which are available from the Company upon request. Such publicly available information sets forth many risks and uncertainties related to the Company's business and such statements, including risks and uncertainties related to drug development and clinical trials. SOURCE LIDAK Pharmaceuticals
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Help
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Back to Lidak Pharmaceuticals news page
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Questions or Comments? |
