EMDG-new product reduces chance of getting HIV
PHOENIX--(BW HealthWire)--March 26, 1999--Results of a recent study to determine the effects of a spermicidal gel on active HIV cells shows the formula, currently marketed under the brand name Preventx®, suppresses the growth of the virus in a stable human T-cell line.
The study was developed to determine whether the formula could suppress growth of the HIV cell in an in vitro situation in the laboratory.
According to Dr. Rieder's results, the study ''demonstrated that a new formulation, Sperm-X (now renamed Preventx for U.S. distribution), is capable of rapidly killing HIV. This agent produces a dramatic decline in the number of viral particles present, and at low particle concentrations appears to destroy all available virus.''
The results were reported by principal researcher Michael Rieder, M.D., Ph.D. of the Department of Paediatrics and Pharm/Tox, J.P. Robarts Research Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario.
Dr. Rieder released the results in a poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology last week in San Antonio, Texas. The study was supported by grants from the Medical Research Council of Canada, the National Health Research Development Program and Paediatric AIDS Canada (PAC).
The formula named in the study was originally developed in Canada, and is now fully owned and licensed for worldwide distribution by an American company, Empyrean Bioscience Inc., based in Phoenix, as part of a growing line of antimicrobial, disease-preventing products under the Preventx brand name.
The Preventx products are alcohol free and Triclosan free, and also contain aloe vera, which helps heal minor cuts and abrasions.
In the controlled study, various dilutions of the formula, in an antiseptic lotion form and as a water-based spermicidal contraceptive, were introduced into stable human T-cell lines, one of which also contained HIV-infected cells.
Dilutions as low as 1/20 per part for both the spermicidal gel and the hand sanitizer proved to completely retard the growth of the HIV cells over a 10-day period. The results are considered encouraging as indicators of possible use of the formula as a protectant against infection by HIV.
Further efforts to determine the usefulness of the benzalkonium chloride/octoxynol formula in human application are planned for later this year in a Phase III study to be conducted in the United States by the National Institute of Health (NIH).
Empyrean Bioscience Inc. (NASDAQ BB: EMDG - news), a publicly traded healthcare company, began marketing the first product of the Preventx line nationwide earlier this year under a distribution ICS Integrated Commercialization Solutions (ICS), a division of Bergen Brunswig Corp. (NYSE: BBC - news).
ICS began distribution in February of the Preventx® Hand Sanitizer and Antiseptic Skin Protectant. The product was designed specifically to prevent the spread of infectious and microbial contamination in industries including healthcare, food preparation, city services (police, fire and emergency medical) and hotels.
''We are very encouraged by the results of Dr. Rieder's study,'' said Stephen Hayter, president of Empyrean, ''and look forward to developing additional validation with human subjects...against sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) including HIV through the NIH study.
''We believe that the $4 billion global market for contraceptives will be revolutionized by the eventual introduction of the final product into the international marketplace,'' he said. ''Dr. Rieder's study validates our internal research and the promise that the Preventx formula holds as a significant milestone in the global initiative against HIV and other STDs.''
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