To all, the following is the recent news from Reuter.
Wednesday January 8 10:15 PM EST
Immulogic Pharmaceutical Corp to begin new allergy drug tests
SAN FRANCISCO, Jan 8 (Reuter) - ImmuLogic Pharmaceutical Corp expects to have a new trial by the second
quarter to provide more accurate data on its Allervax Cat allergy drug candidate, J. Joseph Marr, acting president and
chief executive officer, said.
He said the Food and Drug Administration had raised questions over the company's earlier Phase 2/3 trials due to a
high response rate by patients on the placebo.
"The FDA told us at our meeting in December that the data we presented showed statistically significant efficacy,"
Marr told the Hambrecht and Quist Healthcare Conference here. "But they had questions about what that meant
clinically and felt we might use a different scoring system."
Marr said the new scoring would be designed to put more weight on the drug's ability to treat the most severe allergy
symptoms, such as irritation to the lungs.
However, he emphasized the company has had "no difficulty in demonstrating the basic efficacy of Allervax Cat." He
said 80 percent of patients tested showed an average 75 percent reduction in total allergy symptoms.
Marr said the company will release Phase 2/3 trial results of another drug candidate, Allervax Ragweed, in early
February.
Citing the 32 million Americans who suffer from allergies, Marr estimated the market size for its drugs at $400
million to $800 million. "We should be able to capture a fair amount of that market," he said.
Other company plans for 1997 include completing Phase 1 trials of its multiple sclerosis drug candidate, and Phase 1
trials of its drug to treat cocaine addiction.
Marr said some 400,000 people in the U.S. seek treatment for cocaine addiction each year |
