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Biotech / Medical : Cistron Biotechnology(CIST)$.30 -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?


To: Mike McFarland who wrote (2575)2/9/2000 4:47:00 PM
From: Walter Morton  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 2742
 
Pasteur Merieux Connaught
Abstracted from Chemical Market Reporter 08/03/98

Pasteur Merieux Connaught to invest in Interleukin-1 beta vaccine adjuvant development program with Cistron Biotechnology Inc; latter could receive up to $31 mil in milestone payments plus royalties

On June 30, 1998, Cistron and Pasteur Merieux Serums & Vaccins, S.A. (PMS&V), the world's largest vaccine company, entered into a letter of intent for an option and license agreement pertaining to the use of IL-1 as a vaccine adjuvant in the fields of preventive and therapeutic vaccines. On October 30, 1998, PMS&V purchased 1,333,333 shares of Cistron common stock at approximately $.75 per share and received warrants to purchase 666,667 additional shares at $.25 per share, for an aggregate price of $1,000,000. BlueStone Capital is entitled to a fee from Cistron of 7% of this transaction and to receive an additional warrant to purchase 400,000 shares of common stock at $.25 per share. Simultaneously, the parties also entered into an option and collaboration agreement, under which PMS&V obtained a three-year option to acquire an exclusive license to use Cistron's interleukin-1 beta technology in the fields of therapeutic and preventive vaccines. Under that agreement, PMS&V also agreed to fund Cistron's vaccine adjuvant development program over the three-year period for $900,000. The agreement contemplates that PMS&Vwill conduct its own preclinical and clinical work on the use of IL-1 beta as a vaccine adjuvant in these fields. If the option is exercised, Cistron could receive an aggregate of $31 million in milestone payments based upon the development progress of adjuvanted vaccine products using Cistron's IL-1 beta technology or joint technology developed by the parties, through clinical trials and FDA approvals, provided PMS&V exercises all its rights under the agreement and subject to completion of the development program as currently contemplated. Cistron would also receive royalties should PMS&V sell vaccines using that technology. There can be no assurance that PMS&V will exercise its option to license IL-1 adjuvant rights or if they do, that product development milestones will be achieved.



emedtrade.com



To: Mike McFarland who wrote (2575)2/12/2000 12:33:00 PM
From: Walter Morton  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 2742
 
Human Therapeutics Ltd. today announced the acquisition of Biotech Australia, a biotechnology company, from Hoechst Australia Ltd. (Biotech Australia licenses CIST's patented PAI-2 and is using it to: bioaust.com.au; also see bold print below)

The partners have agreed not to disclose the financial details of the transaction.

Human Therapeutics is a company owned by a consortium of investors and Biotech Australia's management. Biotech Australia will continue its business of developing its own biopharmaceuticals and carrying out contract development and production in this field.

A major asset of the company is its facility at Roseville, Sydney where it has a state-of-the-art plant for the production of human biopharmaceuticals.

The company has a potential product that is heading for completion of Phase II clinical trials, for treatment of Chronic Venous Leg Ulcers and Psoriasis. World markets for these applications are very significant.

The company has a very extensive patent portfolio including patents for oral formulation of biopharmaceuticals such as insulin which currently have to be injected, and for other proteins that are potential pharmaceuticals, such as follistatin which has been shown to stimulate liver regeneration in animal models.

Dr. David Harrison CEO of Biotech Australia said "This is a wonderful opportunity for the company to independently develop fully our valuable intellectual property and to expand our biopharmaceutical contracting business. It is a particularly gratifying reward for our 55 staff who have shown such loyalty to the company."

Chris Bregenhoj, spokesman for Human Therapeutics stated that they were very excited by the opportunity provided by this acquisition.

The plan is to list in the latter part of 2000.

bioaust.com.au

REMEMBER THIS?
Message 11483143

Message 11483254

Message 11483403



To: Mike McFarland who wrote (2575)2/12/2000 12:50:00 PM
From: Walter Morton  Respond to of 2742
 
Also: Message 11727423



To: Mike McFarland who wrote (2575)2/18/2000 1:22:00 AM
From: Walter Morton  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 2742
 
Mike, should we thank you for spreading the word about CIST?



To: Mike McFarland who wrote (2575)3/1/2000 12:06:00 PM
From: Walter Morton  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 2742
 
A division of Aventis S.A. (NYSE:AVE) signed a $31 million agreement plus royalties with CIST and bought 2,000,000 shares CIST's stock.

WHY? For the same patented biotechnology that this unnamed buyer wants to buy for just $7 - $12 million.

REJECT THIS OFFER!!!!!

Volume is down significantly. That's a good sign.

I'm not just talking off the top of my head. Read this:

emedtrade.com



To: Mike McFarland who wrote (2575)3/17/2000 12:49:00 AM
From: Walter Morton  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 2742
 
----- Original Message -----
From: Herman F. Staats, Ph.D.
To: Walter Morton
Sent: Thursday, March 16, 2000 10:09 PM
Subject: Re: Clarification

Walter:

I was able to get this from the links you gave me.

Herman

Bulletin of the World Health Organization
The International Journal of Public Health


More News

Could a nasal spray protect people against human immunodeficiency virus?

Researchers in the USA have received government funding to move ahead with studies of a new approach to vaccinating people against human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) -- not by injection but by a more convenient nasal spray. Bart Haynes and his colleagues at Duke University, North Carolina, have received US$ 5.5 million from the US National Institutes of Health and are hoping to test the approach in rhesus macaques shortly (1).

The announcement came as fresh evidence emerged to stress the urgency of finding a vaccine against HIV. Two further studies published this autumn have emphasized that antiretroviral drugs cannot eradicate HIV from the body, even in individuals who are not known to have a latent reservoir of infection (2,3).

Scientists have long sought to develop a vaccine that could be given without injection because it should be cheaper and easier to administer in developing countries. Also, a vaccine that triggers a strong mucosal immune response may theoretically help to protect against infection with HIV by blocking the virus from entering cells in the genital tract. However, the search has not been straightforward. One key problem has been the adjuvant -- the added constituent that boosts the body's immune response to the immunogen itself. The adjuvant used so far in experimental mucosal vaccines in animals has been cholera toxin, but researchers doubt that this will be acceptable for human vaccines because it can sometimes trigger undesirable side effects. Also, says Herman Staats, a member of the Duke team, cholera toxin may not work as an adjuvant in countries where cholera is endemic.

So the researchers have been testing an alternative adjuvant -- one of the body's own cytokines or messenger chemicals, interleukin-1 (4). The rationale, says Haynes, was to study the cytokines that are stimulated by the presence of cholera toxin, and use these as a short-cut to stimulate a strong response, rather than use cholera toxin itself. Mouse studies have shown that interleukin-1 is effective as an adjuvant for other immunogens, and that vaccines given via the nose can stimulate immune responses in the mucous membranes of the reproductive tract. Although interleukin-1 itself can cause unpleasant symptoms, such as fever and lowered blood pressure, Haynes believes that the dose for a nasal vaccine could be so low that toxicity should not be a problem.

The experimental vaccines to be tested in monkeys are made of synthetic peptides taken from the HIV coat protein gp120, and combine several different strains of the virus to give the greatest possible protection. An experimental vaccine developed by Haynes and his colleagues has already been tested in injected form in people and stimulates antibodies and T cells against the virus. For the tests in macaques, HIV-1 itself cannot be used to challenge the vaccine, as the animals do not become infected by it. Instead, the researchers will use SHIV, an artificial virus made by combining the core of the simian immunodeficiency virus, SIV, with the protein coat of HIV.
A key practical need is to reduce the dose of vaccine, says Haynes: he hopes that using an adjuvant will make this possible. If the monkey studies are successful, the researchers hope that trials of a nasal spray vaccine that uses interleukin-1 as adjuvant may be possible within two years.

1. Duke University Medical Center press release, 19 October 1999 [ news.mc.duke.edu ](http://news.mc.duke.edu/infomatters/news/dumcnews/newsstatic.html).
2. Tae-Wook Chun et al. Re-emergence of HIV after stopping therapy. Nature, 1999, 401: 874?875.
3. Grossman Z et al. Ongoing HIV dissemination during HAART. Nature medicine, 1999, 5: 1099?1104.
4. Staats HF, Ennis FA Jr. IL-1 is an effective adjuvant for mucosal and systemic immune responses when coadministered with protein immunogens. Journal of immunology, 1999, 162: 6141?6147.

I can not open this link either. Their server must be down.

I believe this article is reporting on my publication from last year.

Interleukin 1 is an effective adjuvant for mucosal and systemic immune responses when coadministered with protein immunogens. H.F. Staats and F.A. Ennis, Jr. Journal of Immunology, 162:6141-6147, 1999.

Can you get a copy of my paper? If not, send me a fax number or address and I'll get a copy to you.

Herman

At 07:37 PM 3/16/00 -0500, you wrote:

I found this think to some of your work

google.com
le+Search ) but was unable to access the article.

Do you know what is wrong with this link?

I would like to read more about the nasal spray vaccine.

Thank you,

Walter Morton

Herman F. Staats, Ph.D.
Assistant Research Professor
Departments of Medicine and Immunology
Center For AIDS Research
Box 3307
Duke University Medical Center
Durham, NC 27710

phone: 919-684-8823
fax: 919-684-4288
e-mail: hfs@acpub.duke.edu
duke.edu
152.3.41.232

*****SHIPPING ADDRESS*****
Duke University Medical Center
Room 124, SORF Building
LaSalle Street Extension
Durham, NC 27710