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Biotech / Medical : Indications -- Lupus/Nephritis -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: scaram(o)uche who wrote (40)	2/25/2002 6:36:41 PM
From: keokalani'nui	Respond to of 95

[LJP 394 Presentations] La Jolla Pharmaceutical Scientists Present at Two International Autoimmune Disease Medical Conferences SAN DIEGO, Feb. 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company (Nasdaq: LJPC - news) today announced that Matthew Linnik, Ph.D., Executive Vice President of Research, presented additional data concerning LJP 394, its drug candidate for the treatment of lupus kidney disease, at the Third International Congress on Autoimmunity in Geneva, Switzerland and at the Fifth International Anti-DNA Antibody Workshop in London, England. LJP 394 is designed to reduce the production of disease- causing antibodies responsible for lupus kidney disease while not suppressing the healthy functions of the immune system. Kidney disease is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in lupus patients. Third International Congress on Autoimmunity In a talk entitled ``Reduction in Antibodies to dsDNA using LJP 394 in a Dose Ranging Trial in Lupus Patients,'' Dr. Linnik discussed for the first time at a medical conference results from an earlier Phase II dose-ranging clinical trial completed in 1999 that involved 74 patients. In lupus patients treated weekly for 12 weeks with placebo, 10 mg or 50 mg of LJP 394, antibodies to dsDNA increased by 100%, 53% and 10%, respectively, while in lupus patients treated weekly for 12 weeks with 100 mg of LJP 394, antibodies to dsDNA decreased by 43%, a statistically significant difference from placebo. ``This dose ranging study reinforces the observation that weekly treatment with 100 mg of LJP 394 reduces antibodies to dsDNA more consistently than lower doses,'' said Dr. Linnik. Dr. Linnik also presented a poster entitled ``Effect of LJP 394 or High-dose Corticosteroids and Cyclophosphamide on Anti-dsDNA Antibodies in SLE Patients.'' In a third presentation, G. Michael Iverson, Ph.D., Senior Research Scientist at LJP, reviewed data on the Company's experimental drug, LJP 1082, confirming that disease-causing antibodies from patients with antibody- mediated thrombosis bind primarily to a specific region, or domain, of the blood protein called beta 2 glycoprotein I (beta 2 GPI) that is involved in blood clotting. The talk was entitled ``Use of Mutations in Domain 1 and Domain 4 of Beta 2 GPI to Determine Fine Antigenic Specificity of Antiphospholipid Autoantibodies.'' Fifth International Anti-DNA Antibody Workshop At the Fifth International Anti-DNA Antibody Workshop, Dr. Linnik presented an invited lecture on results from a previous Phase II/III clinical trial for LJP 394 to a group of international experts who study antibodies to dsDNA and their impact on lupus renal disease. Dr. Linnik discussed previously reported data showing that LJP 394-treated patients with high-affinity antibodies to the drug experienced one-third as many renal flares and required one-half as many treatments with high dose corticosteroids and/or cyclophosphamide as placebo-treated patients.