Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Biotech / Medical : Pharmacyclics (PCYC) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Biomaven who wrote (514)	9/7/1999 6:19:00 PM
From: LLCF	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 717

Here's something: Company Press Release Genetic Engineering News Reports on Novel Biotech Approaches to Atherosclerosis LARCHMONT, N.Y.--(BW HealthWire)--Sept. 7, 1999--Biotech companies are leading the way to new therapies for atherosclerosis, which may eventually increase the options available to physicians who treat this leading killer of Americans, according to Genetic Engineering News, (GEN) (www.genengnews.com). Novel approaches to the treatment of heart disease are essential to an aging population where almost 960,000 Americans die each year from cardiovascular disorders, with an associated cost of $286.5 billion, reports the September 1 issue of GEN. ''More than 11 million Americans have documented coronary artery disease, and an estimated 500,000 will die annually of a heart attack,'' says John Sterling, managing editor of GEN. ''Many more people have elevated cholesterol levels and are candidates for cholesterol-lowering drug therapy. That market, more than $10 billion and increasing at a rate of about 25% per year, is currently dominated by the statin drugs.'' The article in GEN details the recent identification of the ABC1 gene, which is responsible for regulating levels of HDL cholesterol, the so-called ''good'' cholesterol. This discovery provides a target for the development of novel cardiovascular disease treatments. Xenon Bioresearch Inc. and Rhone-Poulenc Rorer (NYSE:RPR - news) were involved with two separate teams that independently discovered the gene. ''About half of those patients with atherosclerosis show low levels of HDL cholesterol,'' explains Sterling. ''Since there are no pharmaceuticals currently available for elevating HDL levels, the discovery of the ABC1 gene represents the first step in the potential development of such a new drug.'' In the same issue GEN also profiles AtheroGenics, Inc., which has designed a new class of small-molecule compounds, called vascular protectants, based on the evolving view of atherosclerosis as an inflammatory disease. These vascular protectants act on endothelial cells that line the blood vessels, blocking intracellular signals that control the expression of a small subset of redox-sensitive genes involved in chronic inflammatory responses. ''By targeting this final common pathway in the blood vessel that regulates these inflammatory genes, AtheroGenics expects that that vascular protectants will be able to protect against atherosclerosis,'' continues Sterling. AtheroGenics recently began a Phase II trial of its lead compound, AGI-1067, which combines vascular protective activity with the ability to lower LDL (''bad'' cholesterol). ''Companies such as Xenon Bioresearch and AtheroGenics, as well as those like GenVec, which is exploring the use of gene therapy to bypass clogged coronary arteries, are ushering in a revolutionary era in the treatment of heart disease as we head into the new millennium,'' says Sterling. Other biotech companies developing new treatments for atherosclerosis and coronary artery disease include Scios (NASDAQ:SCIO - news), Metabasis Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SCRI - news), Genentech (NYSE:DNA - news), Human Genome Sciences (NASDAQ:HGSI - news), Pharmacyclics (NASDAQ:PCYX - news), NeoRx (NASDAQ:NERX - news) and GelTex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:GELX - news). DAK