NEWS:
<<<Herpes Vaccine Protective in Animals
VIENNA, Va., Oct. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- CEL-SCI CORPORATION (Amex: HIV; Berlin Stock Exchange: LSR) announces new developments in the fight against the herpes simplex virus (HSV). A team from CEL-SCI Corporation and the Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine presented new data obtained with CEL-SCI's L.E.A.P.S.(TM) technology this weekend at the 9th International Conference on Immunobiology and Prophylaxis of Human Herpesvirus Infections. The conference in Pisa, Italy, was attended by senior investigators working on different strategies for the prevention and treatment of herpes virus infections.
Dr. Ken S. Rosenthal, Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine, reported that, using CEL- SCI's L.E.A.P.S. technology, he was able to show both protection against death as well as a reduction in symptoms from herpes simplex virus animal challenges. Three different L.E.A.P.S. constructs, each with an antigen from a different protein of the herpes virus, showed protection. Two of the constructs included antigens which are common to both HSV-1 and HSV-2. Dr. Rosenthal confirmed that with all three antigens, the L.E.A.P.S. constructs which induce a TH1 (cellular) response are more effective in animal challenge studies than the L.E.A.P.S. constructs which induce a TH2 (humoral) response. The next step will be to evaluate combinations of the constructs in animal challenge studies against HSV-1 and HSV-2 with the goal of reducing the likelihood that the mutation of a single epitope would render the vaccine ineffective.
Most adults (45-90%) have a history of infection with HSV-1 (oral herpes) and approximately 30% of adults also have a history of infection with HSV-2 (genital herpes). HSV-1 and 2 normally cause oral and genital disease, which may be painful and incapacitating. HSV can also infect the eye leading to blindness, cause life-threatening encephalitis and serious disease in immunosuppressed individuals. The most devastating herpes simplex virus infection occurs in the neonate or newborn and its occurrence often leads to serious illness and death. Unlike most other viruses, once infected, a herpes virus remains in hiding within an individual and may be reactivated by stress and other stimuli. For some individuals, such painful recurrences may occur as often as monthly. Although there are antiviral drugs to prevent serious disease and lessen the symptoms, there is currently no way to effectively prevent initial infection or eliminate the virus from an infected person.
Vaccination against HSV has the potential to prevent initial infection, prevent or lessen the number and severity of recurrences, and prevent spread of the virus, especially to neonates and newborns. Several approaches to the development of a safe and effective vaccine to treat or prevent HSV have been and are being pursued.
CEL-SCI's L.E.A.P.S. construct consists of a portion of an HSV protein attached to a portion of another protein (T-Cell Binding Ligand or TCBL) chosen to promote and direct the immune response against the virus. Peptide epitopes obtained from three different HSV proteins (ICP27, glycoprotein B and glycoprotein D) were tested as potential vaccine antigens. By themselves, the epitopes do not initiate protection, but upon incorporation into L.E.A.P.S. constructs, the constructs induce protective immune responses against HSV-1 challenge in the mouse model. Depending upon the construct, T-cell immune responses as indicated by protection, disease severity, delayed type hypersensitivity reactions and/or antibody production, were elicited. More importantly, the TCBL in the L.E.A.P.S. construct directs the nature of the response. L.E.A.P.S. constructs which incorporate the MHC class I TCBL activate TH1 responses (early, local site inflammatory responses) while incorporation of the MHC class II TCBL activates TH2 responses (later, systemic, inhibitory to TH1). This is in contrast to most inactivated virus and protein or peptide vaccine antigens which elicit mainly TH2 responses. A TH1 response is believed to be important for limiting the spread of a herpes simplex virus infection. These L.E.A.P.S. vaccines are being developed for incorporation into a human vaccine designed to treat infected patients.
The L.E.A.P.S. technology is also the subject of ongoing collaborations at the U.S. Naval Medical Research Center, National Cancer Institute, University of Maryland, and University of Nebraska for a number of infectious diseases and cancer. Recently, CEL-SCI Corporation announced that it would set up this technology with a dedicated management team in a separate Company, called MaxPharma. Discussions are ongoing for the financing of MaxPharma.
"CEL-SCI press releases are available through Company News On-Call by fax, 800-758-5804, Ext. 445563, or at cel-sci.com on the Internet."
When used in this report, the words "intends," "believes," "anticipated" and "expects" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, an inability to duplicate the clinic results demonstrated in preclinical studies, timely development of any potential products that can be shown to be safe and effective, receiving necessary regulatory approvals, difficulties in manufacturing any of the Company's potential products and the risk factors set forth from time to time in CEL-SCI Corporation's SEC filings, including but not limited to its report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 30, 1998. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly release the result of any revision to these forward-looking statements which may be made to reflect the events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
SOURCE CEL-SCI Corporation
CO: CEL-SCI Corporation
ST: Virginia
IN: BIO MTC
SU:
10/11/1999 09:00 EDT prnewswire.com >>> |
