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Gold/Mining/Energy : Vasogen-- VAS on TSE -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Smacs who wrote (241)	1/19/2000 4:53:00 PM
From: brb	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 377

I guess this may explain all the volume for MEW in the last couple of days. Wednesday January 19, 10:31 am Eastern Time Company Press Release Vasogen Announces Plans For U.S. Clinical Trial In Patients With Congestive Heart Failure TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 19, 2000--Vasogen Inc. (TSE:VAS. - news; AMEX:MEW - news) today announced plans to proceed with a two-center clinical trial of its immune modulation therapy, VAS991, in patients with congestive heart failure (CHF). CHF is a progressive and often fatal cardiac condition affecting millions of people in North America. The Company is currently completing regulatory submissions to the FDA to commence the trial at two leading centers in the United States. Nearly 5 million Americans suffer from CHF and its prevalence is increasing at 10 percent per year, primarily due to the aging population, as well as improved long-term survival in heart disease patients. CHF occurs when the pumping function of the heart is insufficient to meet the body's demand for oxygen and other nutrients. With prolonged inadequate blood supply to vital organs and voluntary muscles, a number of compensatory mechanisms develop initially, leading to salt and water retention, worsening heart function and eventually symptoms of shortness of breath, fatigue and swelling of the legs. The condition is usually progressive, becomes irreversible, and ultimately results in death. Plans for the placebo-controlled clinical trial are underway at two leading U.S. cardiovascular centres: The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, under the direction of Dr. James Young, Medical Director, Kaufman Center for Heart Failure, and Baylor College of Medicine, under the direction of Dr. Guillermo Torre, Medical Director, Heart Transplant Service. CHF is now recognized to be a systemic disorder characterized by excessive sympathetic nervous system activity, generalized dysfunction of the blood flow-controlling endothelial cells which line blood vessels, inflammation secondary to immune activation of the Th1 cell type, and an increased death rate of heart muscle cells. Vasogen's immune modulation therapy, which involves the withdrawal of a sample of a patient's blood, modification of the components within the sample, and administration of the modified sample to the patient, has been shown experimentally to have a beneficial impact on many of these pathological processes. ``The prospects for a novel non-pharmaceutical approach to the treatment of this all too common and often fatal disorder are very exciting,' said Dr. Guillermo Torre, Baylor's Medical Director of the Heart Transplant Service. ``The ability of Vasogen's immune modulation therapy to beneficially regulate many of the complex factors that lead to the relentless progression of this disease, while avoiding the need to add to the already large number of drugs taken by these patients, offers the potential for a major advance in cardiac care.' While the introduction of treatment with beta blocking agents, angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, and aldosterone antagonists has significantly reduced mortality in CHF, the condition remains the leading cause of hospital admissions in patients over 65 years of age. In its most severe form, CHF still results in a 50 percent one-year mortality rate. ``Addressing congestive heart failure represents an important extension of our cardiovascular disease program,' said Dr. Eldon Smith, Vasogen's Vice President of Scientific Affairs. ``We believe there is a significant opportunity to demonstrate a beneficial effect in this life-threatening condition.'