A little old, but I haven't seen it posted here.
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Tuesday February 16, 8:39 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
Vasogen Technology Prevents
Graft-Versus-Host Disease in Pre-Clinical
Model
MISSISSAUGA, Ontario--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 16,
1999--Vasogen Inc. (ME:VAS - news) announced today results from a pre-clinical study of
Graft-versus-Host Disease (GvHD) which demonstrated that pre-treatment of donor bone marrow with the
Company's proprietary technology, VAS981, protected against the development of GvHD.
Graft-versus-Host Disease is a potentially fatal complication of the thousands of allogeneic bone marrow
transplants performed annually to treat certain types of cancer.
The research was conducted by Dr. David Spaner at the Division of Cancer Biology Research, Sunnybrook
Health Science Centre, University of Toronto. The 20-week study was designed to investigate the ability of
VAS981, compared with standard immunosuppression therapy and untreated controls, to prevent GvHD in
a pre-clinical animal model in which stem cells (the cells required to reconstitute the patient's bone marrow)
were transplanted from a genetically unrelated donor.
In the untreated group, transplantation of the stem cells resulted in severe GvHD, causing death within two
weeks. The group that received cyclosporine, an immunosuppressant drug widely used to treat GvHD,
developed fatal GvHD within three weeks following transplantation. However, in the third group, when the
donor stem cells were treated with VAS981 prior to transplantation, no animals developed GvHD for the
duration of the experiment. This protection was associated with a normalisation of the imbalance between
CD8 and CD4 T-cells seen in GvHD.
''The aim of our work with Vasogen's VAS981 technology is to develop a rapid, simple and effective
method to eliminate GvHD,'' said Dr. Spaner. ''This would represent a major advance in the treatment of
malignancies of the blood that could extend the use of bone marrow transplantation to many more patients in
need of this life-saving procedure.''
Bone marrow transplantation is a potentially curative treatment for patients with malignancies of the blood,
including leukemia and lymphoma. Currently, over 30,000 bone marrow transplant procedures are
performed each year. Nearly half of those cancer patients who receive allogeneic bone marrow transplants
develop GvHD when cells from the donor marrow react against the recipient patient's own tissue. Although
drugs that suppress the immune system, such as cyclosporine, can help decrease the severity of this problem,
GvHD remains the major cause of death, either directly or indirectly, in these patients. The ability to prevent
or reduce the incidence of severe GvHD would allow physicians to perform bone marrow transplant
procedures on a larger population of cancer patients.
In collaboration with Dr. Hans Messner, Professor of Medicine and Director of the Bone Marrow
Transplant Program, Ontario Cancer Institute/Princess Margaret Hospital, Dr. Spaner is now completing
additional pre-clinical work that is expected to enable VAS981 to enter clinical development later this year.
Vasogen is focused on advancing the treatment of cardiovascular and autoimmune diseases through the
development and commercialization of patient-specific therapies (PSTs). These therapies use a patient's own
blood to regulate the immune processes involved in these diseases. PSTs are designed to target fundamental
disease-causing events, providing safe, effective treatment.
Statements contained in this press release, including those pertaining to scientific and clinical research,
commercialization plans, strategic alliances, and intellectual property protection, other than statements of
historical fact, are forward-looking statements subject to a number of uncertainties that could cause actual
results to differ materially from statements made. |
